Vol. 459 No. 6
108 Mr. Hilliard asked the Minister for the Environment if he will consider implementing a scheme whereby local authorities would accept first charges on property, by agreement, in order to carry out improvements to houses in the case of people, such as the elderly, who cannot afford the balance when qualifying for essential repairs, disabled persons grant or any other such grant. [18721/95]
: Under the essential repairs grant scheme, the local authority may, in appropriate cases, meet the full cost of the necessary works. In addition, in the case of a local authority house, the local authority may undertake necessary adaptation works to meet the needs of a disabled person at no cost to the applicant. Under the scheme of improvement works in lieu of local authority housing, a local authority may carry out necessary improvements to a house as an alternative to providing local authority accommodation; in such cases, a small charge related to the cost of the works and the household income may be made similar to a differential rent.
Where applicants are required to contribute to the cost of grant aided works, such as in the case of a private house qualifying for a disabled persons grant, a secured or unsecured local authority house improvement loan may be made available to low income households where they are unable to obtain a loan from a commercial lending agency.
