This Bill, as its long Title indicates, makes further and better provision in relation to grants and loans for private housing and it also consolidates the existing provisions of the Housing Acts on this subject. It is a first step in the simplification and modernisation of the general housing code.
Housing legislation at present comprises the separate codes of the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1958, the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1960, the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1960, and the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts, 1899 to 1958.
It is proposed in this Bill to consolidate and amend the various provisions in the latter two codes dealing with grants and loans for private housing.
The statutory provisions relating to the general powers of housing authorities in the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1958, and the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1958, are also being reviewed for consolidation and amendment in new legislation which will be introduced as soon as possible. Future housing law will then be comprised in only two codes, the Loans and Grants Bill now before the House, and the remainder of the law as proposed to be consolidated in relation to local housing authorities.
The existing provisions relating to State grants for new and reconstructed houses expired on the 31st March, 1962. Section 2 of the Bill provides for the continuance at existing levels of the grants available for the provision of new houses. No terminal date for the completion of grant houses is specified and continuing and extending legislation will therefore be unnecessary in future so far as the payment of grants is concerned. While the housing law is thus being made permanent, this is, of course, without prejudice to the introduction of any amending legislation which may be found necessary from time to time.
The present rates of grants for new houses are being retained, subject to the qualification that a grant will in future be made for unserviced houses only in cases in which the provision of a piped water supply and sewerage facilities is not reasonably practicable. This amendment is in accord with the policy of securing the provision of sanitary services in dwellings wherever possible.
Section 3 deals with reconstruction grants and proposes to continue these grants at the existing rates. Hitherto grants under separate sections and subject to different conditions were paid for (a) the reconstruction of houses in the occupation of farmers, the total rateable valuation of whose holdings did not exceed £50 and to agricultural labourers reconstructing houses for their own occupation in a rural area; and (b) the repair and improvement of houses by other persons. Section 3 deals with both these classes of grants on uniform conditions, subject to retention of the basis on which the grants are at present determined, namely, two-thirds of the cost of the work in the case of category (a) and one-third for category (b), but subject also in both cases to the maximum limit as set out in the section. The expression "agricultural labourer" is not being retained in this context: the classes for whom grants of two-thirds of the cost are to be made are referred to as persons who derive their livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture. Thus, farmers and agricultural labourers are brought within the same qualification. The proposed amalgamation of the two existing sections is designed to secure a desirable uniformity and simplification in administration.
Section 4 deals with the payment of second or subsequent grants in respect of a house which had previously received a new house or reconstruction grant. The 1932 Housing Act contained no positive provisions allowing second grants and this situation was, in the earlier years of the housing programme, regarded as justified for the purpose of securing that durable and good quality work would be carried out when the house was being built or being reconstructed for the first time. The possibility of financial exploitation of a system of unrestricted successive grants had also to be guarded against. With the passing of time, however, and the ageing of housing stock either built or reconstructed originally with these grants, some relaxations were considered necessary to keep houses in repair, and improve them, to prevent deterioration, to allow for family expansion and to enable the question of storm damage to be dealt with.
Various amendments made in 1950, 1952 and 1954 helped the objective of securing durable and good standard work initially, while allowing subsequent grants for necessary reconstruction after the passing of a reasonable time or the emergence of circumstances outside the applicant's control. Under this section, the general bar to payment of further reconstruction grants, within a 15-year period of the first grant, is retained as is the reduced period of ten years where re-roofing is necessary.
However, as rigid application of a limiting period gave rise to hardship in certain cases where particular works became urgently necessary before the expiration of the period, it was decided in 1960, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, to pay limited grants for some of the more urgent works likely to arise under Section 12 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1954, which did not include a prohibition on the payment of further grants. Specific statutory authority for the continuance of the payment of these special grants is now being taken.
The existing legislative power to make a grant for works necessitated by storm damage is being re-enacted with the reservation that a grant for works of this nature will not carry with it a disqualification of the subsequent payment at any time of a grant for normal reconstruction work.
The maximum grants under the section will be as follows:— (a) For extra rooms to relieve overcrowding, involving an addition to floor area— £50 per room: (b) For provision of a bathroom, involving an addition to floor area—£50; (c) For storm damage, two-thirds of the cost in the case of persons deriving their livelihood solely or mainly from agriculture, including farmers with holdings not exceeding £50 and one-third in other cases, subject to the maximum of £100, £120 or £140, as appropriate. For works urgently necessary to conserve a house, one-third of cost subject to a maximum of £100, £120 or £140, as appropriate.
The aggregate of grants made at any one time under the section must not exceed the appropriate statutory maximum of £100, £120 or £140, which obtain at present. Payment of the grants will be made subject to regulations.
Provisions governing the payment of grants for the installation of private water and sewerage facilities are not being retained in housing legislation but will be dealt with in the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Bill.
As supplementary grants are closely connected with State grants, I shall now deal with the new provisions in this respect in advance of the order shown in the text of the Bill. Section 12 of the Bill discontinues the graded system of supplementary grants by local authorities for new houses, leaving housing authorities free to decide the type of supplementary grant scheme most suited to local circumstances within specified maximum limits of income and valuation for eligibility. The existing annual income limit is £624 for county boroughs and contiguous areas and £520 elsewhere but no limit applies to tenants of local authority dwellings or persons eligible for such tenancies. A uniform limit of £832 per annum is now proposed. An increase to £50 in the maximum valuation limit of £35 is proposed for farmers.
The proposals confer on local authorities a power to exclude categories of applicants to whom, although they come within the statutory income or valuation limits, the payment of a supplementary grant by the housing authority is not considered to be warranted. Similarly, a housing authority will be free to limit their scheme to houses of particular types. As regards supplementary grants for reconstruction, repair and improvement, there are no existing statutory maxima for income and valuation. Section 8 preserves this position.
Section 5 introduces a new type of grant to assist minimum essential preservation work in rural areas. This proposal is part of a planned approach to deal with the remaining unfit housing problem in these areas. The evidence available so far, from the survey of unfit housing, shows a manifest need for flexibility of treatment of this branch of the housing problem. There are many persons living in unfit conditions who are not and are never likely to be in a position to rehouse themselves and whose needs cannot or are not being met by housing authorities. Owing to such factors as the location of the houses and the age and circumstances of the occupants, local authorities cannot be expected to give a high priority to providing new houses for these classes. Private grants and loans procedure has up to now been generally ineffective in these cases.
The purpose of the section is to enable the occupant to carry out only the minimum essential works such as roof repairs, repairs of doors or windows and wall plastering. The work will be carried out on an economic and temporary basis so that the house may be reasonably fit for a limited period and so that its subsequent abandonment or demolition will not involve any substantial abortive expenditure. The proposal will not in any way relieve the rural housing authority of its obligation to secure the demolition or closure of unfit rented houses which, normally, are a feature of urban, rather than of rural, areas.
The State grant proposed under this section will not exceed £80, or two-thirds of the cost of the work, whichever is less. The housing authority may, in addition, make a grant sufficient to defray the balance of the cost or may contribute within this limit building materials or labour or other assistance in kind.
Housing authorities are also being authorised under this section to carry out the necessary works of repair with the consent of the occupiers and, in such circumstances, the State grants will be payable to the housing authority.
Section 6 introduces a new scheme of grants to philanthropic and charitable organisations for the provision of housing for elderly persons. It is hoped that the increased rate of grant (£300 per dwelling unit) will provide the necessary impetus to encourage the provision of this type of housing. Aspects of a social character which are normally outside the scope of housing policy attend the problem of housing old people. For that reason, it is desirable that philanthropic or charitable organisations should be encouraged as far as possible to provide the necessary dwelling accommodation. Generous public financial aid is justified for this purpose since the funds likely to be available to such organisations are normally limited.
The section provides for the payment of supplementary grants by housing authorities of amounts not exceeding the grants paid by the State, and provision is also made entitling housing authorities to prescribe such conditions in relation to the payment of supplementary grants as they think fit.
Section 7 introduces a new type of grant designed to encourage experimentation by architects, builders, co-operative groups and local authorities in the production of low cost housing suitable for persons in low income groups. The grant for the erection of the approved prototype will not exceed 50 per cent. of the approved estimated cost. Subsequent reproductions of a successful prototype will be eligible for normal new house grants and supplementary grants in the ordinary way.
It has been represented by architects that, given more freedom of design, house costs could be reduced. Local authorities also have occasionally sought sanction to experimentation in design and specification related to local needs and circumstances. No adequate machinery exists at present which would encourage development of these suggestions. Where departures from prescribed standards occur or are proposed in private grant cases, it is usual to reduce the amount of grant normally available in order to preserve the principle that fixed standards should be observed as far as practicable.
If co-operative or self-help housing, to which I will refer later, can be developed into a formal movement in any area, the erection of a specially designed experimental or "prototype" house would provide useful experience to the co-operative group and encouragement to the spread of such activity.
The section proposes that, if a house-type were evolved through the experimentation envisaged which necessitated such a departure from the present fixed standards as would normally warrant a reduction or loss of grant, the new house-type, perhaps with modification, will be brought especially within eligibility for normal rates of grant for the purpose of reproduction. This will preserve the existing principle of fixed standards to be applied to grant-houses in general and will also enable local authorities to pay supplementary grants in the normal course.
Sections 9 and 12 of the Bill authorise housing authorities to pay supplementary grants for the reconstruction and provision of houses under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Acts. Section 10 re-enacts and extends section 13 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1958, so as to enable a housing authority to make loans for the repair of (a) vested cottages; and (b) houses which have been or will be sold by housing authorities to tenant purchasers in urban areas, where the fee simple or fine is or will be mortgaged as security.
Section 11 provides for the making of loans by housing authorities for the acquisition or construction of houses. The section is intended to replace the existing provisions of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts and will be brought into operation on an appointed day by Order made by the Minister. The section authorises the making of regulations to deal inter alia with the details of procedure relating to the making of loans, the classes eligible for loans, repayments, transfers, etc.
Section 13 is a re-enactment and extension of Section 10 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1956, under which housing authorities are empowered to guarantee advances to private persons for the provision of houses. This guarantee procedure has, however, been almost wholly ineffective. The amended section enables guarantees to be given in respect of loans for reconstruction work as well as for new houses and extends the type of bodies to which guarantees may be given. The new section may in this way be utilised to a greater extent than its predecessor. Section 17 is a new provision which authorises the Minister to withhold or reduce a grant where the conditions subject to which the grant was paid have not been complied with.
Section 20 of the Bill enables the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to vary from time to time the amounts of the maximum advances to be made to borrowers under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts. I propose, on the passing of this Bill, to fix a uniform maximum of £2,000 which will govern advances by all housing authorities and which will replace the existing statutory limits of £1,600 and £1,800.
Section 21 and Section 26, subsection (2) make the necessary transitional provision for the payment of grants outstanding at 31st March, 1962, and authorised within the period 1st April, 1962, up to the passing of this Bill.
The remaining sections are necessary re-enactments of existing provisions of the Housing Acts dealing with private housing grants. I have now outlined the contents and the aims of this Bill, which is designed to encourage the elimination of unfit housing so far as positive legislation can deal with this problem.
I might mention that a survey of unfit houses has been in progress for some time, with special reference to the extent of the problem in rural areas. In the last 30 years, the housing programme, particularly that portion of it undertaken by local authorities, has been more effective in urban than in rural areas, where the current survey figures up to the present indicate that some 30,000 houses need to be repaired and 20,000 more require to be replaced. The full completion of the survey will not materially alter the overall picture of the problem presented by these figures. The problem is a big one and obviously more difficult to solve than that section of the housing programme that has already been successfully implemented.
In rural areas, the unfit housing problem does not lend itself to the treatment possible in urban areas where blocks of unfit property, often in single ownership, can be dealt with by large-scale clearance operations. The outstanding feature of the rural problem is that of isolated and owner-occupied houses situated on holdings of varying economic categories. These categories range from those willing and able to meet the cost of new houses or reconstruction of their old houses with the aid of grants down to those who, for financial or other reasons, are either unable or unwilling to face the implications of even a very modest degree of repair. As Senators familiar with rural conditions are aware, many elderly single persons or elderly couples with little or no resources or a short expectation of life without assured succession for occupation of their dwellings are the classes least inclined or able to do anything for themselves. As I have already said, it is part of the problem that local authorities are not universally disposed to regard this problem as part of their housing functions or, where they do accept some responsibility, they can give only a low priority to the rehousing of these classes, as compared with others seeking new housing.
So far as legislative proposals can go, this Bill contains provisions specially designed to deal with the needs of the rural position. For rural as well as for urban areas, the removal of housing grants from the need for renewable legislation gives an assurance to all concerned that they may continue to plan and build without fear of the non-renewal of the legislation on which the grants depend. The recurrence of unfitness in housing, even in the best circumstances, is a perennial problem and not one that can be assumed to be finally eradicable in the sense that even the best houses decay in time. The proposed provisions in regard to loans and eligibility for supplementary grants made the way easier for the erection of new houses and the reconstruction of old ones. The introduction of the minimum essential repair grants provided in Section 5 for county health areas represents an important new principle of housing policy which, I hope, will do much at reasonable cost to restore the habitability of some of the worst houses in rural areas.
Housing activities in recent years have shown a marked trend in the direction of private enterprise. This welcome trend, which appears likely to continue, deserves to be nurtured not only by improved legislation but also by positive encouragement of both individual effort and co-operative action. The success which has attended the active help and advice given by my Department to persons desiring to organise private group water supply schemes convinces me that a planned approach on these lines to the rural housing problem may yield results which more official lines of action could not achieve. The approach by way of self-help will, I am certain, be considerably assisted by the general provisions of the Bill and particularly by the provisions of Section 7 which will encourage experimentation towards the production of low-cost housing.
The general pattern of this Bill fits therefore into the first part of the attack on the unfit housing problem which is of particular urgency in rural areas. There is still a wide and important field in which local authorities can continue to make, by the direct provision of houses, further valuable contributions to meeting housing needs. I propose to deal with this aspect of the matter in conjunction with my proposals for an up-to-date consolidated code for local housing authorities, which will, I hope, contain special provisions in relation to the rural situation. As I have already intimated, I hope to bring this legislation before the House without any great delay. When these two measures are enacted, we shall have in up-to-date form all the powers required for the effective prosecution of the housing activities of private and public enterprise.