This Bill is intended to provide the legislative framework for the Government's housing programme. It increases the scope of the scheme of loans and grants for housing from both the State and housing authorities, includes measures to help housing authorities in the administration of their existing estates and the provision of further houses, and strengthens the powers of these authorities to require private owners to maintain flats and houses in good condition. It also provides for a unified procedure for compulsory land acquisition by housing authorities and for a number of miscellaneous amendments in the housing law. The explanatory memorandum which I had circulated to Senators gives fuller details of the contents of the Bill.
The Bill will replace, with minor exceptions, 50 or more different housing statutes dating back well into the last century, as well as consolidating many other references to housing in statutes which are only indirectly concerned with the subject. I would like at this point to pay some tribute to the achievements under the older Acts. Since they were first enacted, about 180,000 dwellings, or over one-quarter of the total housing stock of the country, have been provided under them by housing authorities. Of these houses some 50,000 were provided before 1922, and 130,000 after that date. Taking a conservative average of four persons per dwelling, at least three-quarters of a million people, or more than one-quarter of our total population, live in houses provided by local authorities. In addition, a further 130,000 dwellings have been built with the aid of grants under the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1932, so that over 310,000 dwellings, or over 40 per cent of all dwellings in the country, have been provided or aided under the Acts now scheduled for repeal.
Since the passing, in the year 1883, of the first Labourers Act in the present code, to deal with the appalling rural housing conditions then prevailing, a considerable amount of overlapping has taken place between that code and the Housing of the Working Classes Acts dealing with urban conditions, one code being applied wholly or partly to areas for which it was not originally intended and vice versa. This overlapping, together with the numerous amending Acts, has led to a very involved and complicated legal structure. I, for one, have no desire to perpetuate the legalistic approach to housing or to local government—to which the present complex of interlocking statutes leads. Perhaps most important of all, it can be said that the existence of separate codes for urban and rural houses runs counter to the whole conception of a unified approach to housing problems.
The exceptions to the proposal to repeal all existing housing legislation are the Second Schedule to the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, and the Labourers Act, 1936. The Second Schedule to the Act of 1890 deals with compulsory land acquisition procedure and is, in effect, part of the Lands Clauses code. It has been amended by the Housing (Ireland) Act, 1919. After much consideration to see if the provisions of the Schedule could possibly be incorporated in the Bill, I decided reluctantly that they would be more appropriate to a general land acquisition Bill. They have, therefore, for the present, had to remain, as the last vestige of the old order.
The retention of the Labourers Act, 1936, as amended by the Housing and Labourers Act, 1937, which deal with vested cottages, is necessary to regulate the purchase of these cottages now being bought over a period by their occupiers. In addition, tenants of labourers' cottages provided before 1st January, 1966, may apply for purchase under the terms of the 1936 Act, as modified by the Bill, for up to about 18 months from the enactment of the Bill. When all purchases have been completed, the 1936 Act will lapse. It is, therefore, unnecessary to include the terms of the 1936 Act in the present Bill. Apart from sales for the limited period referred to, future sales of both urban and rural dwellings will be effected under the Bill.
The Housing (Loans and Grants) Act, 1962, consolidated the law on loans and grants for private housing. There are a number of arguments against retaining the law on private and local authority housing as separate codes, but in the end they boil down to the simple fact that to do so would be to complicate the attainment of the objectives of all this legislation—the provision of sufficient housing. After all, the payment of loans and grants by housing authorities, with which the 1962 Act deals, is very much part of a local authority's housing operations, and each housing authority must balance the desirability in their own area of helping people in these ways to house themselves, against the necessity of building houses directly for renting to tenants. I, therefore, concluded that the best course was to re-enact the private and local authority housing codes in the one Bill. The re-enactment of the 1962 Act will, of course, also make the task of dealing with the numerous amendments and additions to the Act easier for all concerned.
The principal amendments in the law on private housing are contained in Part II of the Bill. Section 12 sets out a number of ways in which housing authorities may help other organisations in getting houses built. They can do so by loan, guarantee or periodic contribution. These types of assistance may be additional to assistance by supplementary grant or the giving of technical aid under section 112.
Section 16 validates the scheme of special State grants of up to £450 for farmers, and for others in rural areas living in unfit or overcrowded houses or in need of housing on compassionate grounds, if their resources would not permit them to be housed otherwise. Supplementary grants by housing authorities and rate remission are, of course, also available.
A new type of grant is introduced in section 17 for "dower houses". Under it, a farmer providing a small house with sufficient accommodation for himself and his wife, on the transfer of his own holding, or a substantial part of it, to his family, may qualify for State and supplementary grants, totalling up to £350. Partial rate remission will apply under section 33. These grants will apply only to houses under 500 square feet which at present do not qualify for any grant and will, I am sure, help to meet a long-standing need in many areas.
Sections 18 and 27 provide for a special scheme of State and supplementary grants of up to £275 for self-contained flats or maisonettes in blocks of three or more storeys, or up to £325 where the building is of six or more storeys and a lift is installed. Rate remission will also apply. Apart from the obvious arguments for these grants based on the need to use space more intensively, especially in city areas, their existence will, I hope, influence investment funds in the direction of house or flat building.
Sections 21 and 22 re-enact the corresponding provisions of the 1962 Act with amendment. Under those provisions a farmer with a valuation of up to £50 may qualify for a reconstruction grant at up to two-thirds of the cost of the work, subject to the statutory maxima. The new sections will increase the valuation limit to £60. Section 22 also provides for a grant for "dower house" accommodation provided as an addition to the original house.
Grants for the provision and installation of a water supply or sewerage scheme in private houses will continue to be dealt with in the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1962.
Section 24 is a new provision, enabling State grants up to a maximum of £215 per house, to be paid to housing authorities to help them to improve their own houses, by the substantial reconstruction of a roof, the provision of extra rooms, a fitted bathroom, water and sewerage facilities, a hot water system or electricity. The grants will not be paid for work of a maintenance nature. These grants will, I am sure, be particularly welcome to members of housing authorities who have made many representations on the matter from time to time.
Section 26 enables housing authorities to apply to applicants for new house supplementary grants made on or after 1st July, 1965, a new income limit of £1,045 a year (with provision for allowances of up to £100 for dependent persons, subject to a maximum allowance of £400), in lieu of the previous limit of £832 a year. This section also increases the valuation limit for new house supplementary grant to farmers from £50 to £60.
The scheme of grants payable under the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1946, for the accommodation of persons suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis has been recast in section 32 and the maximum recoupment to local authorities increased from £100 to £200. The number of recoupments made to housing authorities under the scheme for the five years ended 31st March, 1965, was only 27. This is a provision which we may all hope will continue to draw such little demand.
Section 35 contains an important new power for the Minister to withhold or reduce a grant for a house which is priced above a level fixed by him by order or which, in his opinion, does not represent reasonable value. In arriving at his opinion, the Minister must consider any representations which the grantee may wish to make.
Sections 39 and 40 enable housing authorities to advance loans for the acquisition or reconstruction of houses. Under section 40 housing authorities will be enabled to advance a loan of up to £200 for the reconstruction of a house, without requiring any formal security. These loans, with the State and supplementary grants, would generally cover a very substantial part of the cost of reconstruction work to houses.
Section 43 will enable a housing authority to guarantee an advance not exceeding the aggregate of the appropriate State and supplementary grants, to a builder erecting or reconstructing a house. This may enable small builders in rural areas to get over the difficulties of finding the initial capital to get started on a house.
For the acquisition and development of building sites for private housebuilding purposes where the work of development commences on or after 1st July, 1965, housing authorities will, under section 44, be enabled to avail of subsidy at up to one-third of the annual loan charges, subject to capital cost limits. I have been advocating the provision of these sites for many years and I hope that this monetary inducement will act as a spur to housing authorities to provide these sites to a high standard of landscaping and lay-out, and in increasing numbers.
The special subsidy scheme whereby a housing authority may provide a house, subject to a nominal rent or purchase annuity, for a farmer with a land valuation not exceeding £5, at a cost to the authority of the loan charges on only £100 is also validated in section 44.
A further change proposed in section 44 is that enabling special subsidy to be paid to housing authorities for the provision of flats in buildings of six or more storeys.
Subsidy of up to two-thirds of the loan charges, subject to capital cost limits, will under section 44 be payable for the provision of houses for elderly persons, and for persons displaced by operations of housing authorities under section 77 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, or by operations aimed at eliminating unfit or dangerous houses.
The section proposes to enable the Minister to use subsidy as a more positive instrument of policy. He will, for instance, be specifically enabled to reduce or withhold it if a housing authority are not maintaining their houses properly. In this way I hope to discourage the sort of false economy which results from housing authorities cutting expenditure on maintenance in the knowledge that the worst consequences of their action will not become apparent for some years. The real result of this skimping is that valuable property deteriorates faster than it need—to the ultimate loss of both the authority and the Exchequer.
Section 44 will also enable subsidy to be used to require housing authorities to adopt renting schemes which take account of the financial circumstances of tenants. This is all the more necessary since under the Bill the old classification of "agricultural labourer" and "person of the working class" will be disappearing. My intention is that no person in need of housing, including itinerants and homeless people, should be refused it on the grounds of inability to pay. Conversely, no person in reasonable circumstances should be charged a rent far below his ability to pay, thus unnecessarily swelling the total subsidy bill for local authority housing which is now of the order of £6 million a year.
A further power in section 44 is that enabling me as a condition of subsidy to lay down conditions for the sale of land or houses under the Bill. It is my intention to do away as far as possible with the necessity for the endorsement of my consent or sanction on individual transfer documents. Instead, minimum terms of sale will be laid down and if these are complied with no submission of individual cases will be necessary. I have not as yet decided on the minimum terms to be laid down for the sale of houses but I hope to be able to devise a formula related to the replacement cost of the houses—a consideration of prime importance when housing authorities are faced with such pressing demands for accommodation for those in need.
In the White Paper on housing it is estimated that there are some 50,000 dwellings beyond economic repair and, while some of the occupants could be expected to build their own houses, many must look to housing authorities for accommodation. In addition, further houses will be needed to meet demands arising from increases in population and from obsolescence. I propose in section 53 to 55 to try to ensure that the provision by housing authorities of the houses so obviously needed is approached in a way which gives the best return to the authorities concerned, and at the same time ensures reasonable continuity of work for the industry on local authority housing. Under section 53, housing authorities will be required at least once in every five years to inspect their areas and assess needs arising from unfit and overcrowded dwellings, industrialisation, population trends, migration, etc. In addition, they will be required to review the present and prospective cost of their housing services. Having assessed needs and costs, they will be required to draw up building programmes at least once in every five years, indicating the needs to be met by private building and by the authority's own schemes. I have already requested housing authorities to put in hands the survey of needs and the preparation of building programmes in anticipation of this legislation.
The elected members of housing authorities will be enabled under section 60 to draw up their own scheme of priorities for the allocation of tenancies in the authority's houses and the manager will be obliged to adopt such schemes when allocating tenancies. This is a more flexible approach than the present system under which priorities are determined centrally and must be followed by all housing authorities, more or less irrespective of local priorities. As at present, the authority will be required to have regard to the report of the chief medical officer in the allocation of tenancies.
I am well aware that the solution to the problem of slums and overcrowding is to build enough houses. This, however, is a long term objective. In the meantime, it is imperative as far as possible to prevent the abuse of houses by overcrowding and their use for human habitation when they are unfit. Part IV of the Bill, therefore, proposes to extend and strengthen the powers of housing authorities to deal with this type of property. In particular the Part proposes penalties for permitting the use of unfit houses to which demolition orders, etc., apply. Bye-laws under section 20 of the Housing (Ireland) Act, 1919, in so far as they relate to overcrowding, are being replaced by statutory provisions set out in Part IV. In so far as they relate to matters other than overcrowding, they will be retained until replaced by new bye-laws made under section 70.
The provisions of the Local Government (No. 2) Act, 1960, which lays down a procedure for the compulsory acquisition of land required by housing authorities for the purpose of any of their powers and duties, will be replaced by section 86. The new provisions will enable local authorities to acquire land by vesting order and will also help in speeding up land acquisition procedures.
Part VI deals with the powers of housing authorities to dispose of land and dwellings. As I said when describing the subsidy provisions, it will not be necessary for a housing authority to get my consent to each disposal of land or dwellings provided the disposal is made in accordance with general rules laid down by me. The requirement in section 16 of the Labourers Act, 1883, that a county council, when disposing of land, must first offer it back to the person from whom it was acquired is not being retained. I might add that the force of this requirement has been considerably diminished by later provisions enabling a local authority to use such land for the purpose of any of their powers and duties. A further reason for getting rid of it is that land acquired by local authorities for any purpose other than Labourers Acts housing is not subject to the same restriction when the authority come to dispose of it.
A uniform sales procedure for both urban and rural houses is proposed in section 90. The Labourers Act, 1936, as amended by the Bill, will continue to apply to sales already made under it. Tenants of cottages provided before 1st January, 1966, if they are qualified to purchase, will be afforded an opportunity of doing so under the sale terms of the Labourers Act, 1936, as amended.
In Chapter III of this Part, the provisions of the Labourers Act, 1965, which removed the statutory restrictions on the mortgaging, charging or subdivision of a vested cottage in addition to providing for the redemption of annuities, are being re-enacted. You will recollect that the 1965 Act was a hurried measure to meet a specific case and that I undertook that it would be repealed and re-enacted in this Bill.
The powers of housing authorities to recover possession of abandoned and unoccupied cottages and dwellings are being strengthened under sections 62, 102 and 106. In so far as recoveries under the Labourers Act, 1936, are concerned the new provision will, I hope, enable housing authorities, from whom I have had numerous representations on the matter, to use vacant cottages to house persons in need, rather than have them lying vacant. The purchaser of a cottage repossessed by a housing authority under the section will be compensated.
In Parts VII and VIII, I would like to refer briefly to section 115 which re-enacts, with amendments, section 88 of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890. It is based on the accepted principle that a member of a local authority should not vote on a matter in which he is beneficially interested. "Beneficial interest" is defined so as to provide that a person to whom a local authority house is let shall be deemed to be beneficially interested in his own house as well as in any other house provided by the authority of which they are the owner.
In conclusion, I would like to say, that, though this Bill will simplify and modernise the housing law, I am only too well aware that the enactment of legislation alone cannot solve our housing difficulties. It is a step, but only a step, in that direction. A great deal of effort and very substantial public and private investment will be required in addition. The Government's awareness of this need is illustrated by the size of their contribution towards housing expenditure. In 1965-66, the Government and local authorities, between them, will be providing over £20 million in capital and over £9 million in current expenditure on both private and local authority housing. The number of houses built will be at least 11,000— an increase of about 17 per cent on the number built in 1964-65.
The amount for housing expenditure is the largest single item in the Government's capital budget and is over twice the corresponding figure five years ago. The figure in next year's capital budget is slightly higher again than this year's provision. I mention these facts to emphasise the extent of the effort already being made by the Government and housing authorities to provide housing and the magnitude of the capital flow to the industry through public funds.
Lest, however, any person or housing authority should think that we will at some time or another come to the end of our housing programme, let me quote some further figures. Between 1946 and 1961 we built some 125,000 houses; but in that period our total housing stock grew by only 14,000 units. The balance disappeared through decay and obsolescence, demolition, change to other uses, and so on. In short, all our efforts barely sufficed to maintain our stock as it was.