Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act , 1932

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short Title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1932.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;

the expression “public utility society” means a society registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893 to 1913, or a friendly society registered under the Friendly Societies Acts, 1896 and 1908, or a trade union registered under the Trade Union Acts, 1871 to 1913, whose objects include the erection of houses for the working classes and the said expression includes also a company which satisfies the Minister that its objects are wholly philanthropic and include the provision of houses for the working, classes; the word “person” wherever it occurs in Part II of this Act includes the Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust but does not include either a local authority or a public utility society;

the expression “agricultural labourer” has the same meaning as it has in the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1931;

the word “house” means and includes a building or any part of a building suitable for occupation as a dwelling-house;

the word “erection” does not include reconstruction, and the words “erect,” “erecting,” and other cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

the expression “urban area” means the area of any county borough, borough or urban district or of a town having town commissioners under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854;

the expression “rural area” means the area of a county health district exclusive of any urban area situate therein;

the expression “urban authority” means the council of a county borough, borough, or urban district or the commissioners of a town having town commissioners under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854.

3 Repeal of enactments.

3.—The enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in the third column of the said Schedule and as on and from the respective dates specified in the fourth column of the said Schedule.

4 Expenses.

4.—All expenses incurred by the Minister or the Minister for Industry and Commerce in carrying this Act into execution shall, save as is otherwise provided by this Act, be paid, to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II. Financial Provisions.

5 Grants by Minister to persons, public utility societies and local authorities.

5.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to the prescribed regulations, make out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas—

(a) to any person or public utility society erecting one or more houses to which this sub-section applies in any urban area or in any rural area a grant not exceeding forty-five pounds, if the erection of such house shall have been commenced after the 1st day of April, 1929, but before the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed on or before the 31st day of December, 1932;

(b) to any person or public utility society erecting one or more houses to which this sub-section applies in any urban area a grant not exceeding—

(i) seventy pounds, if the erection of such house shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of June, 1933;

(ii) sixty pounds, if the erection of such house shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed on or after the 1st day of June, 1933, but before the 1st day of April, 1934;

(iii) fifty pounds, if the erection of such house shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed on or after the 1st day of April, 1934, but before the 1st day of April, 1935;

(c) to any person (other than an agricultural labourer) who derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture, erecting in any rural area for his own occupation a house to which this sub-section applies, the erection of which shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of April, 1935—

(i) a grant not exceeding seventy pounds if such person is in occupation of agricultural land and buildings the rateable value as stated in the valuation lists under the Valuation Acts or aggregate of the rateable values as so stated of which does not exceed fifteen pounds;

(ii) a grant not exceeding sixty pounds, if such person is in occupation of agricultural land and buildings the rateable value as so stated as aforesaid or aggregate of the rateable values as so stated of which exceeds fifteen pounds, but does not exceed twenty-five pounds;

(d) to any person, being an agricultural labourer, erecting in any rural area for his own occupation, a house to which this sub-section applies, the erection of which shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of April, 1935, a grant not exceeding seventy pounds;

(e) to any person (other than a person to whom a grant could be made under paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of this sub-section) erecting in any rural area a house to which this sub-section applies, the erection of which shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of April, 1935, a grant not exceeding forty-five pounds;

(f) to any public utility society erecting in any rural area a house to which this sub-section applies, the erection of which shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of April, 1935, and which shall have been erected for occupation by a person (other than an agricultural labourer) who derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture—

(i) a grant not exceeding eighty pounds, if such person is in occupation of agricultural land and buildings the rateable value as stated in the valuation lists, under the Valuation Acts or aggregate of the rateable values as so stated of which does not exceed fifteen pounds;

(ii) a grant not exceeding seventy pounds, if such person is in occupation of agricultural land and buildings the rateable value as so stated as aforesaid or aggregate of the rateable values as so stated of which exceeds fifteen pounds, but does not exceed twenty-five pounds;

(g) to any public utility society erecting in any rural area a house to which this sub-section applies, the erection of which shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of April, 1935, a grant not exceeding eighty pounds, if such house shall have been erected for occupation by an agricultural labourer;

(h) to any person reconstructing a house in his own occupation a grant not exceeding forty pounds, if such person derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture and is in occupation of agricultural land and buildings the rateable value as stated in the valuation lists under the Valuation Acts or aggregate of the rateable values as so stated of which does not exceed twenty-five pounds, or if such person is an agricultural labourer, and, in either case, the reconstruction of such house shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of April, 1935, and such house when so reconstructed complies with Rules 2 and 3 of the First Schedule to this Act;

(i) to any public utility society erecting a house to which this sub-section applies in any urban area, a grant not exceeding two-ninths of the cost of the provision thereof or one hundred pounds, whichever shall be the lesser, if—

(i) the erection of the house shall have been commenced on or after the 12th day of May, 1932, and shall have been completed before the 1st day of April, 1935; and

(ii) the floor area of the house as measured in the prescribed manner shall be not less than 500 square feet nor more than 750 square feet; and

(iii) such public utility society undertakes with the Minister that such society will not sell such house and will let such house only on a monthly or lesser tenancy to a person of the working classes at a rent not exceeding such rent as may be approved of by the Minister; and

(iv) the urban authority of the urban area in which the house is situate undertakes to make to such public utility society a grant in respect of such house either by way of a grant of land as a site for such house or by way of a grant of money in respect of such house or partly in one such way and partly in the other such way, but in any case not exceeding in (as the case may be) the value of such land or the amount of such money or the total of such value and such amount one-ninth of the cost of the provision of the house or fifty pounds, whichever shall be the lesser;

(j) to any local authority in respect of any house acquired by such local authority under section 8 of the Housing (Ireland) Act, 1919, as amended by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1931, (No. 50 of 1931), for the purpose of being sold or leased to a philanthropic society or body of persons approved of by the Minister, a grant not exceeding sixty per centum of the expenses incurred by such local authority in respect of the acquisition of such house, and to either such local authority or such society or body of persons a grant not exceeding sixty per centum of the expenses incurred by such local authority, society, or body respectively in altering, enlarging, improving or repairing such house, but subject to the limitation that the total of such grants in respect of any one house shall not exceed a sum equivalent to seventy-five pounds for each separate tenement provided in such house.

(2) In sub-section (1) of this section, the expression, “house to which this sub-section applies” means a house which complies with the rules set forth in the First Schedule to this Act.

(3) The Minister shall not make a grant under this section in respect of—

(a) a house in respect of which a grant was made by the Minister under the Housing (Building Facilities) Act, 1924 (No. 14 of 1924), or the Housing Acts, 1925 to 1930, as amended by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1931 (No. 50 of 1931); or

(b) a house erected in accordance with a reinstatement condition within the meaning of section 10 of the Damage to Property (Compensation) Act, 1923 (No. 15 of 1923); or

(c) a house which is erected on or on any part of the site of a building in respect of the destruction of which compensation has been awarded under the Damage to Property (Compensation) Act, 1923, or in respect of the destruction of which a report has been made under section 15 of the said Act; or

(d) a reconstructed house where compensation has been awarded under the provisions of the Damage to Property (Compensation) Act, 1923, in respect of damage to the building before reconstruction or where a report has been made under section 15 of the said Act in respect of such damage; or

(e) the reconstruction of a house by any person unless before such reconstruction such house was certified by an officer appointed by the Minister for the purpose or (in the case of an appeal to the Minister from a refusal by such officer so to certify) by the Minister to be suitable for reconstruction; or

(f) a house in respect of which a grant was made by the Minister for Lands and Fisheries under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Act, 1929 (No. 41 of 1929).

(4) Any person aggrieved by the refusal of an officer appointed by the Minister to certify under this section that a particular house is suitable for reconstruction may appeal against such refusal to the Minister, and on such appeal the Minister may, as he shall think proper, either confirm such refusal or himself give the certificate so refused, and the decision of the Minister on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.

(5) The aggregate amount of grants to be made by the Minister under this section shall not exceed the sum of seven hundred thousand pounds.

6 Contributions by Minister to annual loan charges of local authorities.

6.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and subject to the prescribed regulations, make out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas—

(a) during such period, not exceeding thirty-five years, as the Minister may determine, a contribution towards the annual loan charges incurred by a local authority in respect of money borrowed by them for the provision under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1931, of houses to which this section applies—

(i) not exceeding sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of such annual loan charges, where the Minister is satisfied that such houses have been provided for the accommodation of persons displaced by any operations of such local authority under the said Acts; and

(ii) not exceeding thirty-three and one-third per centum of such annual loan charges in any other case;

(b) during such period, not exceeding thirty-five years, as the Minister may determine, a contribution not exceeding sixty per centum of the annual loan charges incurred by a local authority in respect of money borrowed by them for the provision under the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1931, of cottages or other housing accommodation to which this section applies for agricultural labourers.

(2) This section applies only to houses, cottages, and housing accommodation the erection or provision of which was or shall be commenced on or after the 1st day of April, 1931.

(3) The Minister shall not make any contribution under this section towards the expenses incurred by local authorities in the provision of houses in respect of which grants have been made by him under the Housing Acts, 1925 to 1930.

(4) For the purposes of this section, the amount of any money borrowed by a local authority for the provision of houses, cottages or other housing accommodation to which this section applies shall be deemed not to exceed an amount calculated in the prescribed manner, and the amount of the annual loan charges in respect of such money (limited as aforesaid) shall be deemed not to exceed the sums (including interest charges) which would have been payable by the local authority in any local financial year in repayment of such money (limited as aforesaid) with interest to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, if such money had been borrowed from such Commissioners.

(5) The regulations made by the Minister for the purposes of this section shall provide that in the allocation of any houses in respect of the provision of which a contribution is made under this section preference shall be given, wherever practicable, to families living in one-roomed dwellings where either—

(a) one or more members of the family is or are suffering from tuberculosis; or

(b) one or more members of the family, exclusive of the parents, has or have attained the age of sixteen years; or

(c) the dwelling has been condemned as being unfit for human habitation.

7 Time and method of payment of grants and contributions.

7.—(1) Every grant or contribution to annual loan charges made to a person, a public utility society, or a local authority by the Minister under this Part of this Act shall be paid in the prescribed manner and at the prescribed time or times.

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) of this section, no grant shall be paid by the Minister to a person or a public utility society under this Part of this Act in respect of the erection or reconstruction of a house, unless and until such erection or reconstruction shall have been certified by an officer appointed by the Minister for the purpose or (in the case of an appeal to the Minister from a refusal by such officer so to certify) by the Minister, to have been completed in a proper and workmanlike manner.

(3) The Minister may decide to pay a grant to a person or a public utility society, in instalments payable on the completion of specified portions of the erection or reconstruction of such house, and where the Minister so decides no such instalment shall be paid unless and until the appropriate portion so specified of such erection or reconstruction shall have been certified by the officer appointed by the Minister for the purpose or (in the case of an appeal to the Minister from a refusal by such officer so to certify) by the Minister, to have been completed in a proper and workmanlike manner.

(4) Any person or public utility society aggrieved by the refusal of an officer appointed by the Minister to certify under this section that any particular thing has been completed in a proper and workmanlike manner may appeal against such refusal to the Minister, and on such appeal the Minister may, as he shall think proper, either confirm such refusal or himself give the certificate so refused, and the decision of the Minister on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.

8 Rates of wages and conditions of labour.

8.—(1) In this section references to the commencement of a house shall be construed as referring, in the case of a house erected under a contract, to the date on which such contract was made, and, in the case of any other house, to the date on which the erection of such house was begun.

(2) This section applies to every house which is commenced after the passing of this Act and is erected either—

(a) by a local authority; or

(b) in an urban area by a public utility society; or

(c) in an urban area by a person who is by trade a builder under a contract or for the purpose of being let or sold.

(3) The Minister shall not make under this Act a grant or a contribution to annual loan charges in respect of the erection of a house to which in his opinion this section applies where it is shown to his satisfaction that throughout such erection rates of wages have not been paid or conditions of labour observed at least as advantageous to the persons employed in such erection as the appropriate rates of wages or conditions of labour generally recognised by trade unions at the commencement of such house.

9 Grants by urban authorities to public utility societies.

9.—(1) An urban authority may, subject to the prescribed regulations, make to any public utility society erecting a house in respect of which a grant is made by the Minister under paragraph (i) of sub-section (1) of section 5 of this Act, a grant either by way of a grant of land as a site for such house or by way of a grant of money in respect of such house or partly in one such way and partly in the other such way, but in any case not exceeding in (as the case may be) the value of such land or the amount of such money or the total of such value and such amount one-ninth of the cost of the provision of such house or fifty pounds, whichever shall be the lesser.