Housing (New House Grants Etc.) Regulations, 1990

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 34/1990
• Year: 1990

S.I. No. 34 of 1990.
HOUSING (NEW HOUSE GRANTS ETC.) REGULATIONS, 1990.
The Minister for the Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 5 of the Housing Act, 1966 (No. 21 of 1966) and by sections 4 and 7 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 (No. 27 of 1979) as amended respectively by sections 25 and 26 of the Housing Act, 1988 (No. 28 of 1988), with the consent of the Minister for Finance, hereby makes the following Regulations:
PART I PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL
	1. These Regulations may be cited as the Housing (New House Grants etc.) Regulations, 1990.
	2. (1) In these Regulations, any reference to—
( a ) a Schedule, Part or article which is not otherwise identified is a reference to a Schedule, Part or article of these Regulations;
( b ) a sub-article is a reference to a sub-article of the article in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other article is intended.
(2) In these Regulations—
"the Act of 1979" means the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 ;
"the Act of 1988" means the Housing Act, 1988 ;
"certificate of authorisation", in relation to a person, means a certificate of authorisation issued to that person by the Revenue Commissioners pursuant to the Finance Act, 1970 (No. 14 of 1970) as amended by the Finance Act, 1976 (No. 16 of 1976);
"house" has the meaning given to it by the Act of 1979;
" the Minister" means the Minister for the Environment;
"tax number", in relation to a person, means—
( a ) the Revenue and Social Insurance (RSI) Number stated on any certificate of tax-free allowances issued to that person by an inspector of taxes, not being a certificate issued to an employer in respect of an employee of that employer, or
( b ) the reference number stated on any return of income form or notice of assessment issued to that person by an inspector of taxes;
"VAT number", in relation to a person, means the registration number of that person for the purposes of value-added tax.
	3. "The Regulations specified in column (2) of the First Schedule are hereby revoked to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule.
PART II GRANTS BY MINISTER FOR PROVISION OF NEW HOUSES
	4. This Part shall apply to grants by the Minister under section 4 of the Act of 1979, as amended by the Act of 1988, for the provision of new houses.
	5. (1) A grant to a person under this article, other than in respect of a house located on an island specified in the Second Schedule, shall not exceed—
( a ) £2,000 where—
(i) the person makes, on or after the 1st day of May, 1985, either a contract for the purchase of the house or a payment, which includes value-added tax at the rate applicable to building and building services, on foot of a contract to purchase the house, or
(ii) the person has the house built on a site he has available and work on the construction of the house is completed after the 1st day of May, 1985, or
( b ) £1,000 in any other case.
(2) A grant to a person under this article in respect of a house located on an island specified in the Second Schedule shall not exceed—
( a ) £3,600 where—
(i) the person makes, on or after the 1st day of May, 1985, either a contract for the purchase of the house or a payment, which includes value-added tax at the rate applicable to building and building services, on foot of a contract to purchase the house, or
(ii) the person has the house built on a site he has available and work on the construction of the house is completed after the 1st day of May, 1985, or
( b ) £2,400 in any other case.
	6. (1) Subject to the following provisions of this article, a grant under article 5 shall not be paid to a person—
( a ) where the person or the spouse of such person has, either separately or with each other, previously purchased or built for his or their own occupation another house;
( b ) unless the total floor area of the house is—
(i) not less than 30 square metres and not more than 125 square metres, where the house is a separate self-contained flat or maisonette in a building of two or more storeys, or
(ii) not less than 35 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in any other case;
( c ) unless the person occupies the house on completion as his normal place of residence;
( d ) where the house has previously been owned and occupied, or occupied by any other person;
( e ) unless the person furnishes his tax number and details of his tax district to the Minister;
( f ) unless the person furnishes to the Minister a certificate—
(i) from an inspector of taxes of the Revenue Commissioners, and
(ii) in respect of any periods for which he or his spouse (if any) were resident elsewhere than in the State, from the relevant taxation authority in the country or countries of such residence,
that he or his spouse (if any) had not previously claimed income tax relief in respect of interest paid under a mortgage or other charge relating to the purchase or erection of a house;
( g ) in the case of a grant payable by virtue of section 4 (5) of the Act of 1979 (as inserted by the Act of 1988), unless the person makes a contract for the purchase of the house on or after the 16th day of October, 1985, or, where he has the house built on a site he has available, the foundations are completed on or after that date;
( h ) unless—
(i) the person has made a contract either for the purchase of the house or to have it built on a site he has available, and
(ii) the VAT number of the contractor building the house or, if there is more than one such contractor, the VAT number of each contractor has been furnished to the Minister,
excepting an application for a grant received by the Minister on or before the 6th day of March, 1987, in respect of a house the contract for the purchase of which was made, or, if the house is being built on a site the applicant has available, the foundations of which were completed, before the 1st day of October, 1986;
( i ) in the case of an application received by the Minister on or after the 1st day of April 1990, unless the Minister is furnished with—
(i) the number of the certificate of authorisation of, or the expiry date of a tax clearance certificate issued by the Collector General of the Revenue Commissioners to, the contractor building the house or, where there is more than one such contractor, such number or expiry date, as the case may be, in respect of each contractor, and
(ii) a statement that, to the best of the person's knowledge, his tax affairs are in order;
( j ) in the case of a house the foundations of which are completed on or after the 1st day of July, 1990 and which is located in—
(i) the county borough of Dublin, or
(ii) the administrative county of Dublin other than the areas specified in the Third Schedule,
unless the house has a principal means of space and water heating which uses electricity, gas or oil, or, where a fuel other than gas or oil is used, has a combustion appliance which will...