Housing (Amendment) Act , 1948

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title, construction and collective citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948.

(2) This Act in so far as it amends the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1931, the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1941, the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts, 1899 to 1931, and the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1946, shall be read and construed as one therewith respectively and may be cited together therewith as the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1948, the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1948, the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts, 1899 to 1948, and the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1948.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Act of 1899” means the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899;

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

the expression “the Act of 1937” means the Housing and Labourers Act, 1937 (No. 42 of 1937);

the word “dwellinghouse” means a building constructed or adapted to be used wholly or principally for human habitation;

the expression “habitable house” means a house situate in the functional area of a housing authority which, in the opinion of such authority, is reasonably fit for human habitation or is reasonably capable of being rendered so fit;

the expression “housing authority” means in the case of—

(a) a county health district (exclusive of any town having town commissioners under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854,) the council of the county in which such county health district is situate;

(b) a county or other borough, the corporation of such county or other borough;

(c) an urban district, the council of such urban district, and

(d) a town having town commissioners under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854, except as respects sections 14, 19, 20, 21 and 41 of this Act, the commissioners of such town, and, as respects the said sections, the council of the county in which such town is situate,

and references to the functional area of a housing authority shall be construed accordingly.

the expression “the Housing of the Working Classes Acts” means the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1931, as amended by this Act;

the expression “the Labourers Acts” means the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1941, as amended by this Act;

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government.

3 Regulations.

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

(2) No regulation which includes provision in respect of a payment to be made by the Minister shall be made by the Minister under this Act without the consent to such provision of the Minister for Finance.

4 Expenses.

4.—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.

5 Repeals.

5.—The enactments mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the said Schedule.

6 Offences, prosecutions and punishments.

6.—(1) Where an offence under any section of this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary, or other officer of such body corporate, such director, manager, secretary, or other officer shall also be deemed to have committed the said offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) Proceedings in the District Court in relation to an offence under any section of this Act may be brought and prosecuted by a housing authority.

(3) An offence under section 8, 11, or 12 of this Act shall be a continuing offence and accordingly fresh proceedings in respect thereof may be taken from time to time.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (4) of section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under any section of this Act may be instituted within twelve months from the date of the offence.

PART II. Control of Certain Premises.

7 Grant of permission by housing authority to demolish habitable houses.

7.—(1) A housing authority may, as they think fit, grant or refuse permission to a person to demolish in whole or in part or use otherwise than as a dwelling house any habitable house.

(2) Any person to whom permission has been refused under subsection (1) of this section may appeal to the Minister who may on such appeal either confirm such refusal or give such permission as a housing authority may grant under subsection (1) of this section.

8 Prohibition of demolition of certain habitable houses.

8.—(1) A person shall not demolish in whole or in part or use otherwise than as a dwellinghouse any habitable house unless he has the permission, given under subsection (1) of section 7 of this Act, of the housing authority in whose functional area the habitable house is situate or the permission of the Minister given under subsection (2) of section 7 of this Act.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds (together with, in the case of a continuing offence, a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day on which the offence is continued) or, at the discretion of the court, imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both such fine and imprisonment.

(3) This section shall continue in force until the 31st day of December, 1950, and shall then expire.

9 Non-application of section 7 or 8 of this Act in certain cases.

9.—Section 7 or section 8 of this Act shall not apply to the demolition in whole or in part or the use otherwise than as a dwellinghouse of any habitable house where such habitable house was occupied and used otherwise than as a dwellinghouse immediately before the passing of this Act or where such demolition or such use is required or authorised under or in pursuance of any enactment or for any statutory purpose.

10 Application of section 11 or 12 of this Act.

10.—(1) Section 11 or 12 of this Act shall not apply outside—

(a) the county boroughs of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford and the borough of Dún Laoghaire, and

(b) the functional area of any housing authority as respects which an order under subsection (2) of this section is in force.

(2) The Minister may by order apply sections 11 and 12 of this Act to the functional areas of housing authorities generally or to the functional area of a particular housing authority and may revoke such order.

(3) Every order made by the Minister under subsection (2) 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 annulling such order is passed by either House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which such House has sat after such order is laid before it, such order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to anything previously done under such order.

11 Prohibition of use of certain premises as multiple dwellingse.

11.—(1) After the coming into operation of this subsection, a person shall not permit premises to be used as a multiple dwelling (whether or not the premises are so used at such commencement or were previously so used) without the permission, in writing, of the housing authority in whose functional area the premises are situate and such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds (together with, in the case of a continuing offence, a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day on which the offence is continued) or, at the discretion of the court, imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both such fine and imprisonment.

(3) In this section the expression “multiple dwelling” means premises let in parts to form two or more dwellings.

(4) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1948.

12 Grant by housing authority of permission for purposes of section 11 of this Act.

12.—(1) A housing authority may, from time to time, grant or refuse permission for the purposes of section 11 of this Act.

(2) Where a housing authority grant permission under subsection (1) of this section (in this section referred to as the permission) they may attach all or any of the following conditions to the permission:—

(a) a condition as to the repair, alteration or reconditioning of the premises;

(b) a condition as to the number of dwellings which may be provided in the premises;

(c) a condition as to the maximum number of persons who may occupy each separate dwelling provided in the premises;

(d) a condition as to responsibility for maintenance of the premises.

(3) The permission shall commence on the date specified in that behalf therein and shall, unless previously withdrawn, continue in force for such period (not exceeding three years) as the housing authority may determine.

(4) A housing authority shall keep a record of the permissions granted under this section and such record shall be kept for inspection by any member of the public on payment by him of a fee of one shilling for each inspection.

(5) If a person, whether by act or omission, fails to comply with a condition attached to the permission granted to him, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds (together with, in the case of a continuing offence, a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day on which the offence is continued) or, at the discretion of the court, imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both such fine and imprisonment and the housing authority may withdraw the permission which they granted to him.

(6) A person aggrieved by the refusal of a housing authority to grant permission under subsection (1) of this section or by a condition attached to the permission may appeal to the Circuit Court, within one month after he has received notice from the housing authority of such refusal or of such condition (as the case may be), or such further time as the Court may allow, and the Court may—

(a) in the case of an appeal from a refusal to grant permission—dismiss the appeal or order the housing authority to grant permission;

(b) in the case of an appeal relating to a condition attached to the permission—dismiss the appeal or order the housing authority to modify or annul the condition.

13 Exclusion of furnished lettings.

13.—(1) In ascertaining, for the purposes of section 11 of this Act, whether premises are a multiple dwelling, a part of the premises which is the subject of a furnished letting shall be disregarded if, in the opinion of the housing authority, the rent thereof is greater than the rent which a person of the working classes would be likely to pay for the letting.

(2) In subsection (1) of this section, the expression “furnished letting” means the letting of a dwelling at a rent which includes payments for board, attendance or the use of furniture, or for the supply to the dwelling of heat, hot water, fuel, electricity or any other commodity or for the rendering of any services in connection with the dwelling, unless, in the opinion of the housing authority, the portion of the rent attributable to the dwelling alone equals or exceeds three quarters of the rent.

14 Requiring information from tenants and persons applying for tenancies.

14.—(1) A housing authority may, for the purpose of enabling them to determine the rent that shall be payable by a person to whom they have let or who has applied to have let to him a house, cottage or other accommodation provided under the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1946, the Housing of the Working Classes Acts or the Labourers Acts, require such person to furnish particulars in writing of the following matters:—

(a) the number of members of such person's family residing with him, together with their ages, sex, occupations and condition of health;

(b) the weekly income of such person and of each of the members of his family residing with him;

(c) any assistance, benefit or allowance received by or on behalf of such person or any member of his family residing with him from State funds or from any public assistance authority within the meaning of the Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939) or from any other source whatsoever excluding temporary allowances from any charitable organisation;

(d) the means of transport available to bring such person and the members of his family residing with him to their places of work, or in the case of children, to school, and the cost of such transport;

(e) the terms upon which premises are occupied by him, the amount of the rent payable in respect of such premises and the name and address of the person to whom such rent is payable.

(2) Any person to whom a housing authority have let or who has applied to have let to him a house, cottage or other accommodation provided under the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1946, the Housing of the Working Classes Acts or the Labourers Acts and who wilfully neglects or refuses to furnish any information required by a housing authority under this section or who furnishes false information shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

15 Bye-laws respecting certain houses.

15.—A housing authority shall have the like powers of making and enforcing bye-laws respecting houses containing not more than two rooms and intended or used for occupation by members of the working classes which are occupied by not more than one family as are conferred, under section 20 of the Housing (Ireland) Act, 1919, on the local authority of an urban district or town in the case of houses intended or used for occupation by members of the working classes which are let in lodgings or occupied by members of more than one family and the provisions of the said section 20 shall have effect as if such bye-laws were made under that section.

PART III. Financial Provisions.

16 Grants by Minister to persons and public utility societies.

16.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to regulations made under this section make, out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas, to any person erecting or reconstructing or to any public utility society erecting, one or more than one house, a grant not exceeding the appropriate sum specified in the Second Schedule to this Act if—

(a) erection or reconstruction commence on or after the 1st day of November, 1947, and is completed on or before the 1st day of April, 1950;

(b) such house or houses complies or comply with the rules set out in the First Schedule to the Act of 1932;

(c) such house or houses is or are occupied when completed by

(i) in case such house or houses is or are erected by a public utility society—a member of that society.

(ii) in any other case—the person who erected or reconstructed such house.

(2) The Minister shall not make a grant under this section and under section 5 of the Act of 1932 as amended by any subsequent enactment (including this Act) in respect of a house.

(3) The Minister shall not make a grant under this section in respect of a house in respect of which he is prohibited from making a grant under subsection (3) of section 5 of the Act of 1932 as amended by section 4 of the Act of 1937.

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

17 Grants by Minister to persons and public utility societies in certain cases.

17.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to regulations made under this section make, out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas, to any person or public utility society erecting one or more than one house, a grant not exceeding the appropriate sum specified in the Third Schedule to this Act if—

(a) erection commenced on or after the 1st day of November, 1945, and is completed on or before the 1st day of April, 1950;

(b) such house or houses complies or comply with the rules set out in the First Schedule to the Act of 1932;

(c) such house or houses was or were not occupied on or before the 1st day of November, 1947;

(d) such house or houses is or are occupied when completed by

(i) in case such house or houses is or are erected by a public utility society—a member of that society,

(ii) in any other case—the person who erected such house.

(2) A grant under this section together with a grant under section 5 of the Act of 1932 as amended by any subsequent enactment (including this Act) shall not exceed the appropriate sum specified in the Third Schedule to this Act.

(3) The Minister shall not make a grant under this section in respect of a house in respect of which he is prohibited from making a grant under subsection (3) of section 5 of the Act of 1932 as amended by section 4 of the Act of 1937.

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

18 Increase of grants under section 5 (1) (h) of Act of 1932.

18.—A grant payable, under paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of section 5 of the Act of 1932, to a person reconstructing a house may be increased to sixty pounds where—

(a) the person applied for the grant before the 1st day of November, 1947, and

(b) the reconstruction of the house was commenced but not completed before the 1st day of November, 1947.

19 Grants by housing authorities to persons.