HOUSING (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1946

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE HOUSING (FINANCIAL AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACTS, 1932 TO 1944. [19th February, 1946.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

the expression “the Principal Act” means the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1932 (No. 19 of 1932);

the expression “the Minister” and the word “house” have the same meanings respectively as they have in Part II of the Principal Act.

2 Amendment of subsection (1) of section 5 of Principal Act.

2.—(1) Subsection (1) of section 5 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in the following respects:—

• (a) the reference to the 1st day of April, 1935, contained in each of the paragraphs (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h) of the said subsection (1) shall be construed as a reference to the 1st day of April, 1947;

• (b) the reference to the 1st day of April, 1942, contained in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (i) of the said subsection (1) (being the subparagraph inserted by paragraph (b) of section 2 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1939 (No. 3 of 1939)), shall be construed as a reference to the 1st day of April, 1947;

• (c) each of the references to the 1st day of April, 1940, contained in paragraph (j) of the said subsection (1) (being the paragraph inserted by paragraph (c) of section 2 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1939 (No. 3 of 1939)), shall be construed as a reference to the 1st day of April, 1947.

• (2) Subsection (1) of section 2 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1944 (No. 1 of 1944), is hereby repealed.

• (3) This section shall have and be deemed to have had effect as on and from the 1st day of April, 1945.

3 Grant for extra room for person suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.

3.—(1) Where a county medical officer of health or medical superintendent officer of health certifies that a member of the household of a house situated in the area for which such officer acts is suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis for which he is undergoing treatment and that the existing accommodation of the house is inadequate for his proper treatment or for his segregation from the other members of the household, the following provisions shall have effect:—

• (a) the local authority administering the Tuberculosis Prevention (Ireland) Acts, 1908 and 1913, in the area in which the house is situated may, and if so required by the Minister, shall make to the owner or occupier of the house a grant towards the provision of an extra room in or attached to the house or towards the alteration or modification of an existing room,

• (b) the grant shall not exceed the cost, as approved of by the Minister, of the provision of the extra room or of the alteration or modification of an existing room,

• (c) where the grant is made on a requisition by the Minister under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the amount thereof shall, subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, be such as the Minister directs,

• (d) such local authority shall not make the grant unless and until it is certified that the house is suitable for being provided with an extra room or for having an existing room altered or modified,

• (e) subject to paragraph (f) of this subsection, such local authority shall not pay the grant unless and until it is certified that the provision of the extra room or the alteration or modification of an existing room has been completed in a proper and workmanlike manner,

• (f) such local authority may decide to pay the grant in instalments payable on the completion of specified stages of the provision of the extra room or the alteration or modification of an existing room and, where they so decide, they shall not pay any such instalment unless and until it is certified that the stage to which the instalment relates has been completed in a proper and workmanlike manner,

• (g) the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and in accordance with the regulations made under this section, recoup to such local authority an amount not exceeding one hundred pounds or two-thirds of the grant, whichever is the less.

• (2) In subsection (1) of this section the word “certified” means, in relation to any matter, certified by an officer appointed by the Minister to certify that matter or, in the case of an appeal to the Minister from a refusal by the officer so to certify, by the Minister.

• (3) A person aggrieved by the refusal of an officer appointed under this section by the Minister to certify any matter may appeal against the refusal to the Minister, and on the appeal the Minister may, as he thinks proper, either confirm the refusal or give the certificate which was refused, and the decision of the Minister on the appeal shall be final and conclusive.

• (4) Where a grant is made under this section towards the provision of an extra room in or attached to a house, the valuation of the hereditament or tenement consisting of or including the house shall not, on any valuation or revision of the valuation thereof coming into force within seven years after the completion of such provision, be increased on account of any increase in the value of the hereditament or tenement arising from such provision.

• (5) The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of this section.

• (6) Every regulation made by the Minister under subsection (5) of this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat annulling such regulation, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.

• (7) A local authority may raise or borrow any sum required by them for the purposes of this section as if they required such sum for the purposes of the Tuberculosis Prevention (Ireland) Acts, 1908 and 1913, and any sum so borrowed shall not be reckoned for the purposes of any limitation on borrowing applicable to such local authority.

• (8) The aggregate amount of the recoupments to be made by the Minister under this section shall not exceed one hundred thousand pounds.

4 Extension of section 3 of this Act.

4.—Where the Minister is of opinion that section 3 of this Act should apply in relation to the provision of a hut or chalet within the curtilage of a house in the same manner and in the same circumstances as it applies in relation to the provision of an extra room in or attached to a house, he may by order declare that the said section shall so apply and it shall apply accordingly.

5 Restrictions on increase of valuation in certain cases.

5.—(1) Where—

• (a) a house has been built or reconstructed with the aid of a grant under the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1944,

• (b) the county medical officer of health or medical superintendent officer of health acting for the area in which the house is situated certifies that a member of the household of the house is suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis for which he is undergoing treatment and that the accommodation of the house prior to the provision of the extra room referred to in paragraph (c) of this subsection was inadequate for his proper treatment or for his segregation from the other members of the household, and

• (c) it is certified—

• (i) that an extra room has been provided in or attached to the house,

• (ii) that the provision of the extra room has been completed in a proper and workmanlike manner, and

• (iii) that a grant has not been obtained under section (3) of this Act in relation to the extra room,

the valuation of the hereditament or tenement consisting of or including the house shall not, on any valuation or revision of the valuation thereof coming into force within seven years after the completion of such provision, be increased on account of any increase in the value of the hereditament or tenement arising from the provision of the extra room.

• (2) In paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, the word “certified” means, in relation to the matters specified in that paragraph, certified by an officer appointed by the Minister to certify those matters or, in the case of an appeal to the Minister from a refusal by the officer so to certify, by the Minister.

• (3) A person aggrieved by the refusal of an officer appointed under this section by the Minister to certify the matters referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section may appeal against the refusal to the Minister, and on the appeal the Minister may, as he thinks proper, either confirm the refusal or give the certificate which was refused, and the decision of the Minister on the appeal shall be final and conclusive.

6 Expenses.

6.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

7 Short title and collective citation.

7.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1946.

• (2) The Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1944, and this Act may be cited together as the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1946.