asked the Minister for Local Government if he is aware that, in many cases where builders advertise houses for sale as being eligible for the local government grant of £275 and where the building contract stipulates that the houses should qualify for the grant, the houses when completed have in fact faults of construction which cause his Department's inspectors to refuse payment of the grant, so that purchasers are put to great difficulty and legal and other expense in forcing the builders to correct such faults; and if he will make arrangements so that in future builders of private houses who advertise them for sale as qualifying for the £275 grant will be forced by his Department on pain of fine or other penalties to build the house in such a way that the purchaser is not put to hardship and expense through refusal of the grant.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - House Construction Faults.
The payment of grants for new houses under the Housing (Loans and Grants) Act, 1962, is conditional on satisfactory completion and section 17 of the Act enables the Minister for Local Government to withhold the grant or reduce the amount thereof by such sum as he considers appropriate where the conditions subject to which a grant under the Act has been allocated have not been complied with. In practice, grant payments are not refused but are deferred at the final payment stage if defects are discovered by my inspectors, and builders are notified that final payment will not be made until such defects have been corrected.
Contracts for the erection of houses are subject to the principles contained in the general Law of Contract, and apart from this there is the implied warranty in common law that houses offered for sale shall be built in an efficient and workmanlike manner. The arrangements suggested by the Deputy would involve my assuming functions outside my proper sphere of responsibility, where the parties to a contract are expected to seek such expert guidance as may be necessary to protect themselves.