asked the Minister for Local Government if the Housing Act, 1966, enables the local authority to disregard temporary income, such as overtime, when determining eligibility for supplementary grants and loans.
15.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Income Limit for Housing Grants and Loans.
14.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he will avail of the proposed Bill to amend the housing legislation to define income in the Housing Act, 1966, as not including temporary earnings, such as overtime, at the discretion of the local authority.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 15 together.
Section 26 of the Housing Act, 1966, provides that the determination by a housing authority of the income of an applicant for a supplementary new house grant shall be final and not appealable. I have, therefore, no function as to the items to be taken into account by an authority in determining income for grant purposes. Similarly the determination of income for loan purposes is a matter for the housing authority.
While I would consider that exceptional or windfall receipts in a particular period might reasonably be excluded at the discretion of the housing authority from income for the purposes of the section, I do not think that overtime as such could be excluded in all cases, particularly because of the danger of creating anomalies as between persons whose incomes though approximately the same are made up in different ways. I do not, therefore, propose to amend the existing legislation in the way suggested by the Deputy.
The Minister appreciates that the regulations, as they are being interpreted at present, mean that people who earn overtime over a short period can be debarred from receiving either a loan or a supplementary grant? Would the Minister consider addressing a circular to the local authorities expressing his views on this matter?
I will draw the attention of the local authorities to the terms of my reply to the Deputy.
Thanks.
16.
asked the Minister for Local Government the terms of the last instructions issued by his Department to housing authorities regarding the income limits to be observed in relation to housing loans advanced from moneys provided through the Local Loans Fund; the date of these instructions; and whether these instructions apply to local authority loans provided from funds raised independently of the Local Loans Fund.
The last instructions issued by my Department to housing authorities about the income limits to be observed by them in relation to house-purchase loans are contained in circular letter H.8/65 of 18th June, 1965, and are as follows:
The maximum income limit of eligibility will be increased from £1,040 to £1,200 per annum. No income limit will apply in the case where a borrower, being the tenant of a local authority dwelling, surrenders his tenancy on getting the loan. Farmers, the valuation of whose holdings does not exceed £50, will also continue to be eligible for loans from the local authority. It will be open to housing authorities to propose the raising of money from sources other than the Local Loans Fund for the purpose of making loans to persons outside these limits.
Does this mean that the circular referred to by the Minister confines people to the limits, even though the money being borrowed is not from the Local Loans Fund?
No, it does not. The circular states specifically that it will be open to housing authorities to propose the raising of money from sources other than the Local Loans Fund for the purpose of making loans to persons outside these limits.
Would the Minister's mind be open to considering the question whether local authorities should be allowed to make loans for the erection of new houses without regard to the income of the applicant where the applicant was vacating a good house because, after all, what matters is that there is an additional house to be added to the total supply? If someone has a three-bedroomed house and he proposes to build a four-bedroomed house, is there any objection in principle to facilitating him in getting a Small Dwellings Acquisition loan, provided the creation of a new house leaves a good house available for the accommodation of some other person?
There is. It is essential that the money made available from the Local Loans Fund should be for the provision of more or less utility type houses and smaller type houses. I do not see that there is any advantage in allowing the money issued through the Local Loans Fund to be used in the way Deputy Dillon suggests. If a person is vacating a local authority house and thereby making a house available to the local authority to help to solve the housing problem in the area, then a loan through the Local Loans Fund should be granted outside the income limits. I would not be prepared to do it in the type of case referred to by Deputy Dillon.
Perhaps the Minister might reflect on it. The late Mr. Dockrell said they do not go into a new house out of a tree. They go into a new house out of another house.