I hope I will secure the goodwill of the House for this measure by explaining that the Bill is of a standard type dealing with housing which has been before the Oireachtas a number of times in the past. Its two general principles are, first, the extension of time for the completion of certain building operations to comply with the conditions for grants under the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948; and second, to increase the aggregate of the moneys made available by the State by way of grants under that Act.
The classes of operation affected by the measure are the building of new houses by private persons for their own occupation, by public utility societies for their members, the building of new houses for letting and also the reconstruction of existing houses in rural areas. It, therefore, covers that very valuable contribution towards the solution of the housing problem being made by private building which has for many years been given support and encouragement by different Governments.
The effective provisions of the Bill are contained in Section 1, which provides for two amendments of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948, dealing with the qualifying conditions for grants for houses built or reconstructed by private persons or public utility societies.
The first amendment is contained in paragraph (a) of Section 1. It extends to the 1st April, 1952, the latest date for the completion of houses, the erection or reconstruction of which was begun on or after the 1st November, 1947, or on or after the 1st November, 1945, in the case of houses erected by persons for letting. The latest completion date at present is the 1st April, 1950.
The second amendment is contained in paragraph (b) of Section 1. It increases the aggregate of the grants which may be paid by the State towards private building operations under the 1948 Act from £580,000 to £1,750,000. The amounts of the grants to individuals are not reduced by the Bill. So far as new houses and reconstruction commenced on or after the 1st November, 1947 are concerned, they will still remain at the amounts shown in the Schedules to the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948. When the Housing (Amendment) Bill, 1947, was being discussed in the Seanad, the Minister indicated that an exact measurement of the financial requirements under the Bill was not then possible and that, if the aggregate inserted in that Bill proved to be insufficient, a short amending Bill to increase the amount would be introduced.
The position now is that the aggregate of £580,000 allowed under Section 26 of the 1948 Act has been practically exhausted. This is due to the rapid growth in the number of grants allocated and the exceptional acceleration of the administration of the grants in the past 12 months. Up to the 30th June last, grants had been approved for 6,292 new houses. Of these, 867 grants had then been fully paid and instalments had been paid in 1,364 cases. As regards reconstruction in rural areas, grants had been approved in 4,247 cases of which 450 were fully paid and 601 had received instalments. The total expenditure under the several relevant sections of the Act up to 30th June, 1949 was distributed as follows:—
1. Section 16. Grants for erection and reconstruction begun on or after the 1st November, 1947—approximately £425,000.
2. Section 17. Erection begun on or after 1st November 1945—approximately £55,000.
3. Section 18. Extra £20 grants for reconstruction begun but not completed prior to 1st November, 1947— approximately £7,000.
4. Sections 19, 20 and 21. Recoupment of letting grants paid by local authorities—Nil.
In the cases of letting grants, applications for between 400 and 500 houses have been made to local authorities, who are at present investigating these claims.
It is obvious at present to everyone acquainted with the measure of the housing problem that private enterprise is an essential supplement to the efforts of local authorities towards its solution. Uncertainty as to future policy in the matters of grants is, therefore being removed by this Bill so as to allow full scope to persons intending to plan for the building and reconstruction of houses within the next two or three years.
It was the intention to consider a larger Bill which would include the provisions in the present short Bill. It would be unfair, however, to Deputies and Senators in the present pressure of Parliamentary business to press for the immediate passing of an amending Bill involving changes in important points of policy without giving them a reasonable opportunity to consider fully a wider Bill so that they would be able to study carefully the need for such amendments as they might consider necessary.
There are a number of important aspects in which the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948, has not yet been given sufficient trial and I feel that we should have greater experience of its working before proposing amendments either in that Act or in earlier legislation. I hope, however, to introduce a more comprehensive Housing Bill dealing with some general aspects of housing policy later on. The present urgency for providing further moneys before the summer recess makes this short Bill of limited scope necessary, and I accordingly submit it for the approval of the Seanad.