House Purchase and Housing Act 1959

Grants by local authorities for provision of standard amenities

4 Duty of local authorities to make grants towards certain improvements

(1) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, a local authority shall give assistance in respect of the improvement of any dwelling by any person other than a local authority or county council by such works as may be required for the dwelling to be provided, for the exclusive use of its occupants, with the standard amenities, that is to say, subject to subsection (2) of this section, all of the following:—

(a) a fixed bath or shower in a bathroom;

(b) a wash-hand basin ;

(c) a hot water supply;

(d) a water closet in or contiguous to the dwelling ; and

(e) satisfactory facilities for storing food ;

by way of making a grant (in this Part of this Act referred to as a " standard grant") in respect of the cost of executing the works, if an application in that behalf is made by that person to the local authority and approved by them before the works are begun and the works are executed to the satisfaction of the authority.

(2) The Minister may by order vary the class of amenities which are the standard amenities for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

(3) An application under this section must specify the dwelling and the works proposed to be carried out and, where those works comprise the provision of part only of the standard amenities, must contain a statement that the dwelling is already provided with the remainder.

(4) An application under this section must also contain a statement either that the applicant is the occupier of the dwelling or that the occupier has consented in writing to the making of the application.

(5) Where the works include the provision of a hot water supply, their execution must include the connection of the supply to a sink as well as to the bath or shower and the wash-hand basin.

(6) An application under this section shall not be entertained if it relates to a dwelling provided after the end of the year nineteen hundred and forty-four, unless the dwelling was provided by the conversion before the end of the year nineteen hundred and fifty-eight of a building erected before the end of the year nineteen hundred and forty-four.

5 Approval of applications for standard grant

(1) A local authority shall approve an application for a standard grant if they are satisfied of the matters mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, and shall not approve it if not so satisfied.

(2) The local authority must be satisfied that after the execution of the works specified in the application the dwelling will be in such condition as not to be unfit for human habitation, and that it is likely to remain in that condition and available for use as a dwelling for a period of not less than fifteen years.

(3) The local authority must also be satisfied that the applicant has, in every parcel of land on which the works are to be carried out (other than land proposed to be sold or leased to him under subsection (2) of section one hundred and five of the Housing Act, 1957 (which authorises a local authority to dispose of land for the purpose of carrying out works in connection with work on an adjoining house)), an interest constituting either an estate in fee simple absolute in possession or a term of years absolute of which not less than fifteen years remain unexpired at the date of the application.

(4) Where the local authority do not approve an application for a standard grant they shall, if the applicant so requests, state to him in writing of which of the matters mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) of this section they are not satisfied and their reasons for not being satisfied thereof.

6 Amount of standard grant

(1) The amount of a standard grant shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section, be one-half of the costishown to have been incurred in executing the works in respect of which it is made.

(2) The amount of a standard grant shall not exceed one hundred and fifty-five pounds if at the time the works were begun the dwelling was provided with none of the standard amenities and, in any other case, shall not exceed that amount reduced by the following amounts respectively for each of those amenities with which the dwelling was then provided, that is to say—

(a) by twenty-five pounds for the amenity mentioned in paragraph (a),

(b) by five pounds for that mentioned in paragraph (b),

(c) by seventy-five pounds for that mentioned in paragraph (c),

(d) by forty pounds for that mentioned in paragraph (d),

(e) by ten pounds for that mentioned in paragraph (e),

of subsection (1) of section four of this Act.

(3) The reduction required by subsection (2) of this section in respect of any of the standard amenities shall not be made if part of the cost incurred in executing the works was attributable to interference with or replacement of that amenity and the local authority are satisfied that it would not have been reasonably practicable to avoid the interference or replacement.

(4) The Minister may by order vary the amounts specified in subsection (2) of this section, and an order made by the Minister under section four of this Act varying the amenities which are the standard amenities for the purposes of this Part of this Act may specify the reductions to be made under subsection (2) of this section in respect of those amenities respectively.

7 Application of provisions of Part II of Act of 1958 as to Exchequer contributions, conditions, etc.

(1) The provisions of sections thirty-three to forty-one of and the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1958 (which provide for Exchequer contributions towards improvement grants, the observance and enforcement of conditions in connection with such grants, and certain other matters relating to such grants) shall, with the necessary modifications, and, in particular, subject to the following provisions of this section, apply in relation to standard grants as they apply in relation to improvement grants ; and section forty-two of that Act (which relates to the interpretation of those provisions) shall apply accordingly.

(2) In relation to standard grants—

(a) section thirty-seven of the Act of 1958 (which excludes the application of subsection (3) of section thirty-one of that Act in relation to certain ecclesiastical and other property) shall have effect as if for the reference to that subsection there were substituted a reference to subsection (3) of section five of this Act; and

(b) section thirty-eight and section thirty-nine of that Act shall each apply with the omission of subsection (1) (which relates only to assistance in respect of the provision of dwellings).

8 Effect of standard grant on application for and limit of improvement grant

(1) Where, at any time within three years after the making of a standard grant in respect of any dwelling, an application for an improvement grant is made in respect of that dwelling and the application contains a statement of the cost incurred in executing the works in respect of which the standard grant was made, subsection (3) of section thirty of the Act of 1958 (which prevents such an application from being entertained unless the estimated amount of the relevant expenses is not less than one hundred pounds or such other amount as may be prescribed) shall have effect, in relation to that application (or, if the dwelling is not the only one to which the application relates, in relation to the application so far as it relates to the dwelling), as if the amount specified in or prescribed under that subsection were reduced by the cost incurred as aforesaid.

(2) Where after the making of a standard grant in respect of a dwelling an improvement grant is made in respect of that dwelling, subsection (1) of section thirty-two of the Act of 1958 (which limits the amount of an improvement grant) shall have effect, in relation to that dwelling, as if the sum specified in or prescribed under paragraph (b) of that subsection were reduced by the amount of the standard grant.