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IMPROVEMENT GRANTS
Under the provisions of the House Purchase and Housing
Act, 1959, which supplemented the Housing (Financial
Provisions) Act, 1958, two kinds of monetary grant may be
made by the local authority to owner-occupiers, owners of
rented houses, and in certain cases to leaseholders, who
desire to modernise their property.
1. The existing "Discretionary" Grant scheme is continued
under which, up to half the estimated cost of
improvements to enable the dwelling to conform to a twelve
point standard, may be paid, at the discretion of the local
authority, subject to a minimum grant of £50 and a maximum
grant of £400.
2. A new "Standard" Grant, under which half the cost,
up to a maximum of £155 for carrying out five basic improvements,
can be obtained by owners of houses built before
1945 as a right. These five improvements are a fixed bath
or shower in a bathroom, a wash-hand basin, a water closet
in or contiguous to the dwelling, a hot water supply and
satisfactory facilities for storing food.
Where a dwelling is already provided with one or more
of the five basic amenities, the maximum grant of £155 is
reduced by £25 if there is already a bath or shower; by £5
for a wash-hand basin; by £40 for a water closet; by £75
for a hot water supply; and by £10 for a food larder.
All applications for improvement grants are submitted
to the Borough Treasurer and referred to the Health
Department for an inspection to be made to determine
whether the proposed work will satisfy the provisions of
the standard required by the Act. In the case of applications
for "Standard" grants a final inspection is made to
ascertain that all the required work has been carried out
in a satisfactory manner before payment of the grant is
made.
During the year, 172 applications for discretionary
Improvement grants and 17 applications for standard
improvement grants were received and reported upon. In
addition 145 visits were made by the Public Health
Inspectors to advise owners and builders concerning
proposed improvement grant schemes.
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