HC Deb 05 February 1959 vol 599 cc720-1
Mr. Bevins

I beg to move, in page b, line 15, at the beginning to insert: (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. This is a very simple point. By Section 30 (3) of the Housing Act, 1958, a local authority is prohibited from entertaining an application for an improvement grant where the estimated cost of the improvement is less than £100.

What the Amendment does is to provide that where an application is made for grant under Section 30 of the 1958 Act in respect of a dwelling which has already been the subject of a standard grant, the figure of £100 or any sum which the Minister prescribes in substitution for £100 shall be reduced by the cost incurred in carrying out the provision of the standard amenities, that is to say, the full cost of the standard works is taken into account.

I could give an example of how that would work, but I imagine that the Committee would not wish me to do so at this stage.

Mr. Mitchison

I think we agree that the result would sometimes be a minus quantity.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 9 ordered to stand part of the Bill.