Housing Act, 1966

• Permanent Page URL

Grants by Minister for provision of houses for farmers and others.

16.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and subject to such regulations as may be made by the Minister for the purposes of this section, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to a person providing in a rural area a house in respect of which a grant under any enactment (including this Act) has not been made, a grant of such amount as may be appropriate having regard to subsection (3) of this section if, but only if—

(a) the erection of the house commenced or commences on or after the 1st day of October, 1963,

(b) the house contains at least three rooms and the total area of all the floors of the house when measured in the prescribed manner is not less than five hundred square feet nor more than—

(i) in case of a house in which sewerage facilities and a piped water supply are installed, fifteen hundred square feet, or

(ii) in any other case, fourteen hundred square feet,

(c) the house is erected on a site other than a site in respect of which a contribution has been made by the Minister under section 44 or 45 of this Act, and

(d) the house is occupied by the person as his normal place of residence or, in case the house is provided by a public utility society, the first occupier of the house is a member of the society who occupies it as his normal place of residence.

(2) Grants under this section shall be made only if, in the opinion of the Minister, the person providing the house or, in case the house is provided by a public utility society, the first occupier of the house complies with the requirements of either paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection, namely, that;

(a) the said person or occupier is in need of housing and derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture and the rateable valuation, or the aggregate of the rateable valuations of the land (if any) and buildings occupied by him does not exceed sixty pounds,

(b) the said person or occupier is ordinarily resident in a rural area and either so resides in an overcrowded house or in a house unfit for human habitation, or is in need of housing on medical, compassionate or other similar

grounds, and the circumstances of the person or occupier are such that he could not provide a house for his own occupation without the aid of a grant under this section.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, a grant under this section shall not exceed the appropriate amount specified in the Table hereunder:

TABLE

Amount of Grant

(4) In the Table to subsection (3) of this section, the references to £40 and £60 shall as respects a house the erection of which commenced before 1st July, 1965, be construed as references to £35 and £50 respectively.