Housing Act, 1966

Supplementary grants by housing authority to persons for provision of houses.

26.—(1) Where a relevant grant is made by the Minister or the Minister for the Gaeltacht, as the case may be, to or in respect of a person providing a house, the housing authority may, whether the relevant grant has been paid in whole or in part, make a supplementary grant to or in respect of the person who is the person first in occupation of the house after the erection or purchase thereof is completed in respect of the provision of the house, if, but only if—

(a) the person 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, or

(b) the total, determined by the housing authority, of the income of the person and the income of his spouse (if any) does not exceed one thousand and forty-five pounds per annum.

(2) A housing authority, in determining the income of a person applying for a grant under this section or of his spouse, may, if the person satisfies the authority that he or his spouse maintains at his or her own expense a dependant person, make such allowance as they think fit, subject to a maximum allowance of one hundred pounds in respect of each person so maintained, or four hundred pounds in the aggregate, whichever is the less.

(3) A supplementary grant under this section shall be of such amount as may be determined by the housing authority but shall not exceed the amount of the relevant grant.

(4) A housing authority may impose in relation to the making of supplementary grants under this section such conditions as they think fit.

(5) A determination of a housing authority of the amount of a grant under this section or of the income of a person applying for a grant under this section or of his spouse (if any) shall be final and not appealable.

(6) A grant shall not be made under this section in respect of a house in respect of which a grant was made under section 9, 10 or 11 of the Act of 1952 or section 12 of the Act of 1962.

(7) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that in case a housing authority in making a determination of an income for the purposes of section 12 of the Act of 1962, made an allowance in respect of the maintenance of a dependant person at the expense of the person whose income was being so determined, the making of such allowance shall not affect, and shall be deemed never to have affected, the validity of the determination.

(8) In case a housing authority make a grant under section 12 of the Act of 1962 on or after the 1st day of July, 1965, to or in respect of a person—

(a) who 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 exceeds fifty pounds but does not exceed sixty pounds, or

(b) the total, determined for the purposes of the said section 12 by the authority, of the income of the person and the income of his wife (if any) exceeded eight hundred and thirty-two pounds but did not exceed one thousand and forty-five pounds per annum,

the fact that the said valuation exceeded fifty pounds or the said total exceeded eight hundred and thirty-two pounds per annum, shall not affect, and shall be deemed never to have affected, the validity of the making of the grant.

(9) In this section, “relevant grant” means a grant under—

(a) subsection (1) or subsection (7) (inserted by the Housing (Gaeltacht) (Amendment) Act, 1959 of section 3 of the Housing (Gaeltacht) Act, 1929 ,

(b) section 16 of the Act of 1948,

(c) section 2 of the Act of 1962, or

(d) sections 15 , 16 or 17 of this Act.

(10) This section in so far as it relates to a grant under section 16 of this Act shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of October, 1963.