Housing (Loans and Grants) Act , 1962

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

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

“the Act of 1948” means the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948;

“the Act of 1952” means the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1952;

“the Act of 1956” means the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1956;

“the Act of 1958” means the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1958;

“house” includes any part of a building suitable for occupation as a dwelling;

“housing authority” means in the case of—

(a) a county health district, 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, and

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

“the Labourers Acts” means the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1958, as amended by this Act;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government;

“providing” in relation to a house that has never been occupied, includes (except in section 6 of this Act) purchasing the house and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Minister by regulations.

2 Grants by Minister for provision of houses.

2.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and subject to regulations under this section, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to a person or public utility society providing one or more than one house in respect of which a grant under this section has not been made a grant not exceeding the appropriate sum specified in the Second Schedule to this Act if, but only if—

(a) erection of the house or each house, as the case may be, commenced or commences on or after the 1st day of April, 1962,

(b) the house or each house, as the case may be, is in compliance with the regulations under this section,

(c) the house or each house, as the case may be, is in compliance with the rules set out in the First Schedule to this Act, and

(d) in the case of one or more than one house provided by a public utility society, the first occupier of the house or each house, as the case may be, is a member of the society who occupies the house or each house as his normal place of residence.

(2) The Minister shall not make a grant under this section and under section 16 of the Act of 1948 in respect of the same house.

(3) (a) In every case in which a grant is made under this section and a revision of the rateable valuation of the tenement consisting of or including the house to which the grant relates is made, such amount of the revised valuation as is attributable to the erection of the house shall, in each of the nine successive local financial years following the local financial year in which the house is completed, be deemed to be reduced for rating purposes by the proportion of such amount specified in the second column of the Table to this section opposite the number of the year in the first column of the Table.

(b) In this subsection “rating purposes” in relation to a tenement means the following (and no other) purposes, that is to say, the purpose of the assessment and levying of any rate raised by a local authority for the service of the local financial year in which the tenement is first rated on the increased valuation referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection or for the service of any of the next following eight local financial years.

(c) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the immediately preceding paragraph of this subsection restricting the meaning of “rating purposes”, it is hereby enacted in particular that notwithstanding the rateable valuation (in this paragraph referred to as the full valuation) of a tenement being deemed under this section to be reduced in relation to any local financial year, every computation for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts of the annual value of such tenement shall be made in like manner as if the full valuation were in force for the purposes of county rate or municipal rate, as the case may be, in relation to that year.

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

TABLE

Number of year	Reduction in valuation of house
First	Nine-tenths
Second	Eight-tenths
Third	Seven-tenths
Fourth	Six-tenths
Fifth	Five-tenths
Sixth	Four-tenths
Seventh	Three-tenths
Eighth	Two-tenths
Ninth	One-tenth

3 Grants by Minister for reconstruction or improvement of houses.

3.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and subject to regulations under this section, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to a person reconstructing or executing improvement works on a house, in respect of each separate dwelling forming part of the house after the completion of the reconstruction or the improvement works, as the case may be, a grant of such amount as may be appropriate having regard to subsections (2) and (3) of this section.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, a grant to a person under this section in respect of a house shall not exceed—

(a) in case the person reconstructs or improves a house for his own occupation, and derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture and the rateable value, or the aggregate of the rateable value, of the land (if any) and buildings occupied by him does not exceed fifty pounds, two-thirds of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the reconstruction or the improvement works, as the case may be, and

(b) in any other case, one-third of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the reconstruction or the improvement works.

(3) A grant under this section shall not exceed—

(a) in the case of a dwelling containing not more than three rooms, one hundred pounds,

(b) in the case of a dwelling containing four rooms, one hundred and twenty pounds, and

(c) in the case of a dwelling containing five or more rooms, one hundred and forty pounds.

(4) A grant shall not be made under this section in respect of a house unless—

(a) the Minister is satisfied that the house is suitable for reconstruction or for the execution of improvement works thereon, and

(b) the reconstruction or the execution of the improvement works was commenced or is commenced on or after the 1st day of April, 1962, and is in compliance with the regulations under this section.

(5) Where the Minister makes a grant under this section in respect of a house, the valuation of the 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 the reconstruction or of the improvement works, be increased on account of any increase in the value of such tenement arising from the reconstruction or the improvement works.

(6) In this and in the next following section “reconstruction” and “improvement works” in relation to a house include any works carried out in relation to the house (whether for the purpose of extending, enlarging or improving the house) that, in the opinion of the Minister, are reasonably necessary for the purpose of rendering the house more suitable for human habitation, but do not include decoration, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.

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

4 Second grants by Minister for reconstruction of houses.

4.—(1) Where a grant for the erection, reconstruction, repair, improvement or purchase of a house was made or is made by the Minister, whether before or after the passing of this Act, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and subject to regulations under this section, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to a person executing reconstruction works or improvement works on the house a grant or grants of such amount as may be appropriate having regard to subsections (2) and (3) of this section if—

(a) the works are necessary because of damage caused by wind, rain or flooding,

(b) the works are occasioned by something (other than the matters referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection) outside the control of the person aforesaid and the works are certified by an officer of the Minister to be urgently necessary for the conservation of the house,

(c) the works are commenced not less than fifteen years after the date of the payment of the earlier grant,

(d) the works are commenced less than fifteen but not less than ten years after the date of the payment of the earlier grant and the works in respect of which the later grant is made consist of or include the replacement of roofing by roofing of slates or tiles,

(e) the works consist of the provision of a bathroom and involve an addition to the floor area of the house existing immediately before the construction of the works, or

(f) the works consist of the provision of a room or rooms, involve an addition to the floor area of the house existing immediately before the construction of the works and are, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary for the relief of overcrowding.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, a grant to a person under this section—

(a) in respect of works of the kind specified in paragraph (a) (c) or (d) of subsection (1) of this section, shall not exceed—

(i) in case the person reconstructs or improves a house for his own occupation, and derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture and the rateable value, or the aggregate of the rateable value, of the land (if any) and buildings occupied by him does not exceed fifty pounds, two-thirds of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the works, and

(ii) in any other case, one-third of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the works,

(b) in respect of works of the kind specified in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, shall not exceed one-third of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the works,

(c) in respect of works of the kind specified in paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of this section, shall not exceed—

(i) one-third of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the works, or

(ii) fifty pounds,

whichever is the less, and

(d) in respect of works of the kind specified in paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of this section, shall not exceed—

(i) one-third of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the works, or

(ii) fifty pounds for each room provided,

whichever is the less.

(3) A grant or the aggregate of the grants made at any one time under this section shall not exceed—

(a) in the case of a house containing not more than three rooms, one hundred pounds,

(b) in the case of a house containing four rooms, one hundred and twenty pounds, or,

(c) in the case of a house containing five or more rooms, one hundred and forty pounds,

(4) A person shall not be disentitled to receive a grant under this section or section 3 of this Act by reason of the fact that a grant has previously been made to him under this section in respect of works of the kind specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section.

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

5 Grants by-Minister for essential repairs.

5.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, a grant to an occupier of a house situate in a county health district carrying out essential repairs to the house.

(2) A grant may be made under subsection (1) of this section if, but only if—

(a) the housing authority in whose functional area the house is situate furnishes to the Minister a certificate of the authority stating, and the Minister is satisfied, that the house cannot be made fit for human habitation, in all respects, at a reasonable cost and that the repairs in respect of which the grant is proposed to be made constitute at least the repairs that are necessary in order to prolong the life of the house, and

(b) the repairs in respect of which the grant is proposed to be made are carried out in a satisfactory and efficient manner.

(3) The repairs to a house in respect of which a grant falls to be paid under subsection (1) of this section may, with the consent of the occupier of the house, be carried out by the housing authority in whose functional area the house is situate and, if the repairs are carried out by the housing authority, the Minister may pay the grant to the housing authority.

(4) A grant under this section shall not exceed—

(a) two-thirds of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the repairs in respect of which the grant is made, or

(b) eighty pounds,

whichever is the less,

(5) Where the Minister makes a grant under this section in respect of a house, the housing authority in whose functional area the house is situate may pay to the occupier of the house the difference, or such part of it as it thinks fit, between the amount of the grant and the amount estimated by the Minister to be the cost of the essential repairs to the house, contribute building materials or labour for the carrying out of the repairs to a value not greater than the amount of the difference aforesaid or make any payment in kind to the occupier to a value not greater than the amount of the difference aforesaid.

(6) Where the Minister makes a grant under this section in respect of a house, the valuation of the 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 the repairs be increased on account of any increase in the value of such tenement arising from the repairs.

(7) A grant shall not be made under this section in respect of a house in respect of which a grant has previously been made under this section.

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

6 Grants by Minister for housing of elderly persons.

6.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, a grant to a body providing, with the approval of the Minister, one or more than one house for the accommodation of elderly persons.

(2) The amount of a grant under this section shall not exceed three hundred pounds in respect of each house, or each separate dwelling forming part of a house.

(3) Where a grant is made to a body under this section by the Minister in respect of a house, the housing authority may make to the body a grant of an amount not exceeding the amount of the grant made by the Minister and the grant may be made on such terms and conditions as the authority thinks fit to impose, including terms and conditions providing for the payment of the grant by instalments or in relation to the use or sale of the house or houses in respect of which the grant is made or for the recovery of so much of the grant as has been paid from the body to whom it has been paid on breach by the body of any terms or conditions subject to which it was made.

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

(5) In this section “providing”, in relation to a house, includes erecting, reconstructing, converting and purchasing a house.

7 Grants by Minister for provision of prototype houses.

7.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, a grant to any person or body in respect of the erection of a house in accordance with plans and specifications approved of by the Minister if the Minister is satisfied—

(a) that the house is of a kind that would be suitable for accommodating any particular category of persons,

(b) that houses could be erected at low cost in accordance with the plans and specifications aforesaid, and

(c) that a house has not previously been erected in accordance with the plans and specifications aforesaid or plans or specifications that are substantially the same as the plans and specifications aforesaid.

(2) A grant under this section shall not exceed one-half of the amount estimated by the Minister to be the reasonable cost of erection of the house.

(3) (a) In every case in which a grant is made under this section and a revision of the rateable valuation of the tenement consisting of or including the house to which the grant relates is made, such amount of the revised valuation as is attributable to the erection of the house shall, in each of the nine successive local financial years following the local financial year in which the house is completed, be deemed to be reduced for rating purposes by the proportion of such amount specified in the second column of the Table to this section opposite the number of the year in the first column of the Table.

(b) In this subsection “rating purposes” in relation to a tenement means the following (and no other) purposes, that is to say, the purpose of the assessment and levying of any rate raised by a local authority for the service of the local financial year in which the tenement is first rated on the increased valuation referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection or for the service of any of the next following eight local financial years.

(c) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the immediately preceding paragraph of this subsection restricting the meaning of “rating purposes”, it is hereby enacted in particular that notwithstanding the rateable valuation (in this paragraph referred to as the full valuation) of a tenement being deemed under this section to be reduced in relation to any local financial year, every computation for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts of the annual value of such tenement shall be made in like manner as if the full valuation were in force for the purposes of county rate or municipal rate, as the case may be, in relation to that year.

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

(5) A grant may be paid under section 2 of this Act in respect of any further house erected with the approval of the Minister in accordance with plans and specifications that are the same as the plans and specifications of a house in respect of which a grant was made under this section or that differ from those plans and specifications only in respect of modifications approved of by the Minister, notwithstanding the fact that the house is not in compliance with the rules set out in the First Schedule to this Act or with regulations under the said section 2.

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