S.I. No. 276/1974 - Housing Authorities (Borrowing and Management) Regulations, 1974.

S.I. No. 276 of 1974.

HOUSING AUTHORITIES (BORROWING AND MANAGEMENT) REGULATIONS, 1974.

The Minister for Local Government in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 4 of the Local Government (No. 2) Act, 1960 (No. 40 of 1960) and by sections 5 , 44 , 58 , 90 and 106 of the Housing Act, 1966 (No. 21 of 1966) and with the consent of the Minister for Finance hereby makes the following Regulations:—

1 Citation.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Authorities (Borrowing and Management) Regulations, 1974.

2 ..

2. In these Regulations:—

"the Act" means the Housing Act, 1966 (No. 21 of 1966);

"the Act of 1960" means the Local Government (No. 2) Act, 1960 (No. 40 of 1960);

"the Act of 1928" means the Local Government (Rates on Small Dwellings) Act, 1928 (No. 4 of 1928);

"building site" means a developed site for house building purposes in respect of which the Minister is satisfied that the work of developing the site commenced on or after 1st July, 1965;

"dwelling" includes any dwelling provided by a housing authority under the Act or any enactment repealed by the Act;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Local Government.

3 Revocation.

3. The Regulations specified in Part II of the Schedule hereto are hereby revoked.

4 Conditions for sanction of the Minister to borrowing.

4. Where a housing authority has, with the sanction of the Minister, borrowed under section 4 of the Act of 1960, money for the provision of dwellings or building sites, the following provisions shall be complied with:—

( a ) the dwellings or building sites shall be provided in accordance with proposals approved by the Minister;

( b ) work on the erection of the dwellings or the development of the building sites shall be completed in a proper and workmanlike manner in accordance with such plans and specifications as may be approved by the Minister;

( c ) in the construction of dwellings and the provision of building sites, materials and appliances conforming with the current standard quality for the particular work shall be used as far as possible;

( d ) dwellings shall be open to inspection when required by an authorised officer of the Minister;

( e ) dwellings let by the authority on a tenancy for a month or a lesser period than a month—

(i) in the case of dwellings let for the first time shall be let in accordance with a scheme of rents approved by the Minister, which takes account of the financial circumstances of the household and the standard of accommodation and amenity of the dwelling, and

(ii) in the case of other dwellings, shall as soon as is reasonably practicable, be let at rents in accordance with such a scheme and pending the making of such lettings, shall be let at rents which are in accordance with a scheme or not less than amounts approved by the Minister in relation to such dwellings;

( f ) lettings of dwellings to which a scheme of priorities under section 60 of the Act relates shall be in accordance with the scheme;

( g ) the authority shall ensure that dwellings let by them on a tenancy for a month or a lesser period than a month shall, subject to the terms of the tenancy, be maintained in good tenantable condition and repair;

( h ) building sites sold, leased or exchanged by the authority under section 88 of the Act shall be sold, leased or exchanged by them—

(i) in the case of a sale, lease or exchange in accordance with terms approved by the Minister before the date of these regulations, in accordance with those terms, and

(ii) in any other case, for a price not less than a sum equivalent to the cost to the authority of the acquisition and development of the site less the value of any contribution to loan charges in respect of the site by the Minister under section 44 of the Act;

( i ) dwellings sold or leased by the authority under section 90 of the Act shall be sold or leased—

(i) in case a dwelling is occupied by a tenant, to the tenant in accordance with a purchase scheme made by the authority and approved by the Minister for the purposes of this article, and

(ii) in case the dwelling is not so occupied, to any person, with the consent of the Minister;

( j ) land, other than building sites, sold, leased or exchanged under section 88 of the Act, shall be sold, leased or exchanged for the best price and on the best terms reasonably obtainable or, where the price and terms are not the best reasonably obtainable, with the consent of the Minister.

5 Cost limits for sites for purposes of contributions to loan charges.

5. For the purposes of section 44 of the Act, the amount of any money borrowed by a housing authority for the provision of building sites, shall be deemed to be the amount of the loan borrowed by the authority for the provision of building sites or an amount equal to the number of sites provided multiplied by £900, whichever is the lesser.

6 Letting of houses.

6. (1) Every letting by a housing authority of a dwelling by virtue of section 58 of the Housing Act, 1966 , shall be made subject to the following conditions:—

( a ) the tenancy shall be a weekly tenancy;

( b ) the sum for rent, payment in respect of rates under the Act of 1928 and any charges for services shall be paid punctually on the due dates;

( c ) the tenant shall not assign, sub-divide or part with the possession of the dwelling or any part thereof or make any letting in con-acre, or, without the consent of the authority, sublet or allow any part of the dwelling to be occupied by a lodger;

( d ) the tenant, may, with the consent of the authority, exchange his tenancy of the dwelling for the tenancy of another dwelling provided by a housing authority;

( e ) the tenant shall not, save with the consent of the authority, cease to reside in the dwelling for more than six weeks in any period of fifty-two weeks;

( f ) the dwelling shall not be used as a shop, work-shop or factory or for any purpose whatever other than as a dwelling-house;

( g ) no trading signs of any description shall be erected or displayed on or about the dwelling, without the consent of the authority;

( h ) the tenant shall not cause any damage to the dwelling and shall keep the dwelling in a clean and proper state, and shall not allow any refuse or offensive matter to accumulate in any portion thereof;

( i ) the tenant shall not cause any nuisance or be guilty of or permit any conduct likely to cause annoyance or disturbance to his neighbours;

( j ) where the dwelling is let by a housing authority which is a county borough corporation, borough corporation, urban district council or a town, the tenant shall not keep any poultry, pigs or other animals ( other than domestic pets which are not likely to create a nuisance or become a source of annoyance) on the premises without the consent of the housing authority;

( k ) where a dwelling is let by an authority which is a county council, the tenant shall not keep any poultry, pigs or other animals ( other than domestic pets which are not likely to create a nuisance or become a source of annoyance) on the premises if required to refrain from so doing by the authority;

( l ) the tenant shall not execute any additions, alterations, improvements or other works in, or in relation to, the dwelling or erect any shed, garage, out-office or other building, without the consent of the authority;

( m ) the tenant shall be responsible for all internal decoration and for any breakage of glass in the windows and any damage to the fixtures, fittings or structure of the dwelling and for the proper maintenance of fences of the garden or plot and shall cause to be made good any damage or breakage without delay and where such works, damage or breakage is carried out or repaired by the authority, shall pay the cost of such works to the authority;

( n ) the tenant shall allow authorised officers and servants of the authority to enter and inspect the dwelling at all reasonable times and to carry out thereon any necessary works;

( o ) the tenant shall, on the termination of the tenancy peaceably and quietly deliver up possession of the dwelling to the authority;

( p ) the authority shall have a right to re-enter upon and resume possession of the dwelling for breach, non-performance or non-observance of any of the provisions of the letting agreement;

( q ) the tenancy may be terminated at any time on the giving of one week's notice by the tenant or the authority;

( r ) notice to quit may be served by the authority on the tenant either personally or by leaving it with some person over sixteen years of age resident or employed in the house or by leaving it at the dwelling.

(2) Every letting agreement in respect of a dwelling shall contain an indication of the liability of the tenant under section 9 of the Act of 1928 for the payment in respect of rates for the dwelling.

7 Inspection of houses.

7. Every housing authority shall make arrangements for the inspection, from time to time, of dwellings provided by them, and shall obtain and consider reports from rent collectors and any other authorised officers or servants regarding the state of repair of the dwellings, the manner in which the dwellings are maintained by the tenants and any breach, non-performance, or non-observance of any provisions of letting agreements on the part of the tenants.

8 Fee for purposes of section 106 of Act.

8. A fee of one pound is prescribed for the purposes of subsection (3) of section 106 of the Act.

9 Form of transfer order for purposes of section 90 of Act.

9. The transfer order for the purposes of section 90 of the Act shall be in the form set out in Part I of the schedule hereto or in a form substantially to the like effect.

SCHEDULE

PART I

FORM OF TRANSFER ORDER

Housing Act, 1966 , (section 90).

TRANSFER ORDER

(hereinafter referred to as the housing authority) in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 90 of the Housing Act, 1966 HEREBY VEST on the ......................... day of ................ 19 .......the dwelling described in the Schedule to this Order

(hereinafter referred to as "the purchaser" which expression where the context so admits includes his successors in title)

of ......................... 19 ............................ subject to the terms, conditions and special conditions herein specified.

3. There is hereby reserved out of the said dwelling a rent of 5p per annum (if demanded).

4. The following special conditions shall apply to the dwelling:—⁶

( a ) payment in respect of the purchase money shall be paid punctually on the due dates;

( b ) the dwelling shall, unless the housing authority otherwise allow, be occupied as a normal place of residence by the purchaser or the purchaser's successor in title or by a member of the purchaser's family or the family of his successor in title;

( c ) the dwelling or any part thereof shall not, without the the consent of the housing authority, be mortgaged, charged or alienated otherwise than by devise or operation of law.

5. The following conditions shall apply to the dwellings:—⁷

SCHEDULE

TO TRANSFER ORDER

Description of dwelling.⁸

The common seal of the housing authority was affixed hereto in the presence of

Directions for completing this Form.

¹ Insert name of functional area of housing authority.

² Insert consideration e.g. "£.............," and/or "the rent herein reserved".

³ Insert name of housing authority.

⁴ Insert name and address of purchaser.

⁵ Insert amount and manner for payment of purchase money where appropriate.

⁶ Delete special conditions not appropriate.

⁷ Insert the appropriate conditions as to repair by purchaser, use as dwelling only, right of entry of housing authority, payment by purchaser of rates, rents, taxes etc., alterations and additions, insurance in joint names of purchasers and authority, re-entry of housing authority in case of breach of condition and such other conditions as are required.

⁸ Insert suitable description. Where description is by reference to a map the map should be clearly identified and attached to the Order.

SCHEDULE.

PART II.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Local Government this 18th

day of September, 1974.

JAMES TULLY

Minister for Local Government.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the foregoing Regulations.

Dated this 18th day of September, 1974.

RICHIE RYAN

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations repeal the Housing (Management and Lettings) Regulations, 1950 and 1953, and the Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations, 1967 to 1972. The regulations lay down conditions as to building standards, rents and the disposal by housing authorities of houses, building sites and other land, for which the sanction of the Minister for Local Government has been given to the borrowing of money by an authority for the provision of houses and building sites.

The regulations also provide for the cost limits on which contributions to loan charges may be made by the Minister under section 44 of the Housing Act, 1966 in respect of money borrowed by a housing authority for the provision of building sites. The regulations also incorporate the conditions subject to which lettings of dwellings may be made by housing authorities, including a condition permitting an authority to consent to sub-tenanting.

The fee to accompany an appeal to the Minister under section 106 of the Act, dealing with the structural condition of dwellings on their sale or lease by a housing authority, and the form of transfer order for the sale or lease of dwellings under section 90 of the Act are also prescribed. A new form of transfer order which provides for disposal by leasehold only is also prescribed.