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21 1966

HOUSING ACT, 1966

Chapter IV

Contributions by Minister to Certain Annual Loan Charges

Contributions by Minister to certain annual loan charges of housing authorities.

44. —(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) of this section and to such regulations as may be made by him for the purposes of this section, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, during such period not exceeding fifty years as the Minister may determine, a contribution towards the annual loan charges incurred by a housing authority in respect of money borrowed by them for—

(a) the provision under this Act of dwellings in respect of which a grant under section 15 of this Act has not been made, or

(b) the provision of sites for building purposes, provided that the Minister is satisfied that the work of developing the site commenced on or after the 1st day of July, 1965.

(2) In the case of dwellings mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, the following provisions shall apply as respects a contribution under subsection (1) of this section, other than a special contribution:

(a) the contribution shall not exceed sixty-six and two-thirds per cent. of such annual loan charges in case the Minister is satisfied that the dwellings are provided—

(i) after the commencement of this section, for the accommodation of elderly persons,

(ii) for the accommodation of persons displaced, whether before or after the commencement of this section, or to be displaced—

(I) by any of the operations of a housing authority under this Act,

(II) under section 77 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 , (including, in particular, any operations under an arrangement for the development of land made or carried out by a housing authority with a person or body under subsection (3) of the said section 77) or

(III) under section 3 of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1964 ,

(iii) for the accommodation of persons displaced by the collapse or destruction of their former houses,

(iv) for the accommodation of persons living in overcrowded conditions,

(v) for the accommodation of persons who are in need of housing on medical, compassionate or other similar grounds if the circumstances of the persons would not permit them to be otherwise housed,

(b) the contribution shall not exceed thirty-three and one-third per cent. of such annual loan charges in any other case.

(3) In the case of sites for building purposes provided under this Act, a contribution under subsection (1) of this section shall not exceed thirty-three and one-third per cent. of such annual loan charges.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of the power to make regulations for the purposes of this section, any such regulations may provide for all or any of the following conditions in respect of dwellings, sites for building purposes or other land, irrespective of whether or not a contribution towards annual loan charges is made under or by virtue of this Chapter in respect of the dwellings, sites or other land:

(a) conditions as to the rents of dwellings;

(b) conditions as to building standards;

(c) conditions for requiring contributions from the municipal or county rate (as may be appropriate) towards the costs incurred by a housing authority in respect of their housing services;

(d) conditions as to the maintenance of dwellings;

(e) conditions as to the sale or lease under this Act of dwellings or other land;

(f) conditions as to the development of sites for building purposes;

provided that regulations making provision for conditions mentioned in paragraph (e) of this subsection shall be made only after consultation with the Minister for Finance.

(5) Where before the commencement of this section a contribution was made or could, in the opinion of the Minister, have been made under an enactment repealed by this Act towards the annual loan charges in respect of money borrowed by a housing authority for the provision of dwellings, a contribution to those charges shall not be made under this section, but the contribution so made or which in the Minister's opinion could have been so made together with any further contribution which but for the repeal would fall to be made by the Minister under the enactment may, subject to subsections (6) and (7) of this section, be made by the Minister as if this Act had not been enacted.

(6) A contribution made by virtue of subsection (5) of this section may, if the Minister thinks fit, be so made subject to conditions including all or any of the conditions mentioned in paragraphs (a), (c), (d) or (e) of subsection (4) of this section.

(7) Every contribution to annual loan charges under or by virtue of this section may be made by the Minister either direct to the housing authority or on their behalf to the person from whom was borrowed the money in respect of which such loan charges were incurred.

(8) For the purposes of this section, the amount of any money borrowed by a housing authority for the provision of dwellings or of sites for building purposes shall be deemed not to exceed an amount calculated in the manner prescribed by regulations made by the Minister for the purposes of this section and a particular method of calculation may be prescribed in relation to dwellings or sites in a particular area or of a particular type, or dwellings requiring extra expenditure because of their location, site, design or form of construction.

(9) In this section, “a special contribution” means a contribution under subsection (1) of this section made by the Minister towards the annual loan charges incurred by a housing authority who are the council of a county in respect of a dwelling as respects which he is satisfied that it is a dwelling provided by the authority on or after the 1st day of October, 1963, in a rural area for the accommodation of a person who derives his livelihood or a substantial proportion thereof from the pursuit of agriculture and who occupies land the rateable valuation or the aggregate of the rateable valuations of which (exclusive of any buildings thereon) does not exceed five pounds.

Contributions by Minister in respect of certain borrowings by bodies providing dwellings or sites for building purposes.

45. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section and to such regulations as may be made by the Minister for the purposes of this section, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, from time to time make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, during such period not exceeding fifty years as the Minister may determine, a contribution towards the annual loan charges incurred by a body approved by the Minister for the purposes of this section in respect of money borrowed by them for the provision of dwellings or sites for building purposes to which this section applies.

(2) This section applies to dwellings and sites for building purposes in relation to which the Minister is unable to make a contribution by reason only of the fact that the dwellings or sites were provided other than by a housing authority.

(3) A contribution to annual loan charges made under this section shall not exceed in amount the maximum amount of the contribution which could be made by the Minister under section 44 of this Act if the dwellings or sites to which the contribution relates had been provided by a housing authority.

(4) Every contribution to annual loan charges under this section may be made by the Minister either direct to the body or on their behalf to the person from whom was borrowed the money in respect of which such loan charges were incurred.

Withholding or reduction in amount of contributions.

46. —If at any time the Minister is satisfied that a body approved by him for the purposes of section 45 of this Act or a housing authority has or have failed to observe any conditions subject to which a contribution towards annual loan charges is made under or by virtue of this Chapter, the Minister may reduce the amount of any such contribution, or suspend or discontinue its payment, as he thinks proper.

Payment by Minister in lieu of contributions to annual loan charges.

47. —(1) Where the Minister is entitled to make, but has not made, a contribution under this Chapter towards annual loan charges incurred in respect of money borrowed by a housing authority or by a body approved by the Minister for the purposes of section 45 of this Act, the Minister may, if he thinks fit, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to such conditions (including conditions requiring the giving of an undertaking) as the Minister thinks fit, in lieu of making the contribution pay to the borrower or to the person from whom the money was borrowed a sum of such amount as may be determined by the Minister but not exceeding the maximum contribution which the Minister is so entitled to make.

(2) Where a contribution has been made by the Minister under or by virtue of this Chapter towards the annual loan charges incurred in respect of money borrowed by a housing authority or by a body approved by the Minister for the purposes of the said section 45, the Minister may, if he thinks fit, at any time, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to such conditions (including conditions requiring the giving of an undertaking) as the Minister thinks fit, in lieu of making the further contributions, pay to the borrower or to the person from whom the money was borrowed a sum determined by the Minister to be equal to the capital value of the further contributions.

(3) Where the Minister has made a payment under this section and, as a condition of making the payment, has been given an undertaking which has not been complied with, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) the authority or body shall be liable to repay to the Minister the amount of the payment; and

(b) the amount may be recovered by the Minister from the authority or body as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(4) Where a sum is due to a housing authority by the Minister and, at the same time, the authority is liable under subsection (3) of this section to repay an amount to the Minister, the sum may be set off against the amount either, as may be appropriate, in whole or in part.

(5) In this section, the “further contributions” means the contributions or contribution towards the annual loan charges incurred by a housing authority or by a body approved by the Minister for the purposes of the said section 45 in respect of borrowed money which, but for the making by the Minister of a payment in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, would fall to be made by him under or by virtue of this Chapter.

Subsidy by Minister in respect of certain loan charges.

48. —(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, pay, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to a housing authority in respect of money to which this section applies and borrowed by the authority, a subsidy (in this section referred to as the interest subsidy) equal to the difference between the loan charges incurred in respect of such money and the loan charges on the same amount calculated at such lesser rate or rates of interest as may be determined by the Minister.

(2) The interest subsidy shall neither be reckoned as a contribution to annual loan charges for the purposes of section 44 of this Act nor affect the amount of a contribution payable by virtue of subsection (5) of the said section 44.

(3) This section applies only to money borrowed for the purposes of the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1958, or the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1962, by a housing authority from the local loans fund on or after the 5th day of May, 1948, for the provision of houses, cottages or other housing accommodation to which, immediately before the commencement of this section, the Housing (Loan Charges Contributions) Regulations, 1932 to 1951, applied.

(4) In case the Minister has paid subsidy under section 15 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1958 , during the financial year which commenced next before the commencement of this section, the interest subsidy as respects the money to which the subsidy under the said section 15 related shall not be paid during the said financial year.