asked the Minister for Local Government if he will furnish certain information regarding the disposal of the £3 million mentioned in the Housing Section of the Supplement to the Financial Statement Budget 1970 namely: (a) the number of acres of land (and approximate number of sites) acquired by each of the housing authorities concerned, (b) the number of acres of land (and approximate number of sites) acquired within the functional area of each of the housing authorities concerned, (c) the amount of expenditure (other than land purchased), (d) the balance of the £3 million not expended, and (e) the number of acres of land (and approximate number of sites) not yet acquired but under negotiation by each housing authority.
Written Answers. - Housing Statistics.
159.
The £3 million was made available to Dublin Corporation for a special land acquisition and development programme in Dublin city and county. The most recent report on this programme, submitted by the corporation, indicated that by mid-December, 1969, they had spent £2,953,728 on the acquisition of 2,081 acres. The unexpended balance of the £3 million then was £46,272. Until plans are prepared for the various areas which have been acquired, it will not be possible to say how many housing sites can be provided on these lands. Information is not available in my Department as to the number of acres, or the approximate number of additional sites which may be under negotiation by the corporation under the programme.
160.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he will furnish certain average costs of houses and building sites (a) in Dublin County and (b) in rural areas derived from sample housing returns in his Department (preferably in connection with houses purchased with the aid of housing authority loans) (1) in the year in which the existing grants and supplementary grants for new houses commenced and (2) in 1969, viz., site development, superstructure and foundations, other expenses, grants, loans and deposits.
Particulars of the average prices of new private houses for which loans are approved by building societies, assurance companies and local authorities are compiled by my Department and are included in a statistical bulletin which is issued each quarter. I am arranging to have a copy of the most recent bulletin in the series sent to the Deputy. This bulletin shows that the average price of new houses for which loans were approved by local authorities in the year ended on the 31st March, 1970, was £4,218 in Dublin County (which for this purpose includes the functional areas of Dublin County Council, Dublin Corporation and Dún Laoghaire Corporation) and £3,962 in the whole country. Separate details for average prices in rural areas on an analysis of prices by site acquisition and development, superstructure, et cetera, are not available.
To meet the cost of these houses, local authority loans—of up to £3,000 in the Dublin area, the county boroughs of Cork, Limerick and Waterford and the borough of Galway and of up to £2,700 in other areas—are available to eligible purchasers.
In addition, State grants of up to £335, or £460 for farmers and certain other persons providing houses in rural areas, are available under the proposals contained in the Housing Bill, 1970. In areas where supplementary grant schemes are operated, these grants may be supplemented by grants of equal amount from the local authorities concerned. In appropriate cases, purchasers may also receive the benefit of a site subsidy, the capitalised value of which may be £150. The difference remaining between the price of a house and the amount available by way of loan, grant and site subsidy, if any, is met by the purchaser in the form of a deposit.
Since the statistical series on house prices to which I referred earlier was initiated only in 1968-69, corresponding details for earlier years are not available.
161.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he will furnish certain separate average costs (and subsidisable elements in those costs) of local authority dwellings (not flats) in Counties Meath, Dublin and Dublin City appearing in proposals sanctioned soon after the last three modifications in the subsidisable element, indicating (a) total cost, (b) subsidisable element, (c) percentage (b) of (a) and if particulars are readily available the appropriate costs per square foot of total area within exterior walls.
The revisions of the subsidisable limits for local authority housing, referred to in the question, were made with effect from 1st May, 1953, 1st April, 1961, and 31st December, 1968, respectively. Information in relation to schemes affected by the revision operative from 31st December, 1968, and particulars of costs per square foot are not available.
The other information requested is as follows:—
|
Effective Date |
Details requested |
Dublin Corporation |
County Dublin |
County Meath |
|
1st May, 1953 |
Average total cost |
£1,630 |
£1,610 |
£1,100 |
|
Amount subsidisable |
£1,500 |
£1,500 |
£1,100 |
|
|
,,,,(%) |
92 |
93 |
100 |
|
|
1st April, 1961 |
Average total cost |
£2,460 |
£2,020 |
£1,705 |
|
Amount subsidisable |
£1,650 |
£1,650 |
£1,650 |
|
|
,,,,(%) |
67 |
82 |
97 |