The Gazette 1972

IS Solicitors among New Recorders Only 15 Solicitors are among 70 new Recorders whose appointment under the Courts Act is announced. Under the Act, Solicitors qualify for the first time for appointment as part-time Recorders. After five years' service as a Recorder, they are eligible for appointment as a full-time Circuit Judge. The 70 Recorders, chosen from lawyers practising in the South-Eastern, Northern and Wales and Chester circuit areas, as well as the Midland, North-Eastern and Weitern Circuits, will try the less serious indictable offences when the new Crown Court system replaces Quarter Sessions and Assizes from January 1st. Recorders will not necessarily sit at courts in the circuits where they practised. House prices soar I5p.c. in one year

More Built Dublin house prices rose by 14 p.c. to £6,409. Prices in Cork rose by 10 p.c. to an average of £5,955 while Limerick fared better with only a 5 p.c. increase to £5,020. Prices in other areas went up by about 19 p.c. to an average of £5,490. The statistics also disclose that the number of houses completed during the quarter under review rose by 11 p.c. on the corresponding period of 1970 to reach 3,627. The number of dwellings started during the period was 5,139, of which 2,023 were local authority houses. Total payments by loan agencies continue to run at a very high level. In the first nine months of this year these payments amounted to £32.1 million, which is substantially higher than the corresponding figure for any previous year. House purchase loan approvals in the quarter by building societies, assurance companies and local authorities amounted to £13.3 million, of which build- ing societies accounted for £8.2 million. Payments in the quarter amounted to £10.8 million and the total value of unpaid applications on hands at the end of the quarter was £42.1 million.

House prices have risen by 15 p.c. in the past year. The cost of the average new house has gone up from £5,261 to £6,071 during the 12-month period. These national figures, published by the Depart- ment of Local Government, cover even sharper house price inflation in some areas of the country. Worst hit is Galway county where average house prices rose by more than a quarter to £6,781—even higher than the national average. The Department's statistics are for the quarter ended September 30th this year and they show no slowing up m the trend which has pushed house prices up by nearly 45 p.c. since 1968. If anything it is worsening. I he yearly increase recorded in the second quarter of this year was only 11 p.c. compared with the new figure of 15 p.c. This rate of inflation is about equal to the rate of increase in average wages which have been rising at 16 n.c. a year but it far exceeds the average rate of price rises. During the same period consumer prices as a whole rose by 9 p.c. Galway shows the most startling rise with the average house price going up by 26 p.c. during the year. The average price of houses bought with building societies loans went up by 30 p.c. It now has the highest average house prices in the country.

Costs of flats in Dublin decried Miss Catherine Collins, assistant secretary of the Flat Dwellers' Association, said in Dublin last night that ''by no stretch of imagination" could flats or bedsitters in the city be described as being good value for money. She was speaking at a Forum discussion meeting on the question.

heating or lighting and in many instances it had been noted by the association that meters were tampered with by landlords and advanced to much higher rates. Some of the most vulnerable flatdwellers were single women, Miss Collins said. They were among the lowest wage earners, yet were still expected to pay similar rents to single males who might be earning up to 20% more. The majority of flats in Dublin were furnished, and therefore uncontrolled, Miss Collins said. This resulted in lack of security for the tenant and superiority of rights by the landlord over the tenant. She said that any increase in rates or taxes incurred by landlords were frequently pushed on to the tenant's rent. Among the demands of the association was the establishment of a rent tribunal or some court to which flatdwellers could have recourse.

The present bad conditions in flats and bedsitters had come about because Dublin had never been planned to accommodate one-third of the country's entire population. This had resulted in a housing shortage which reflected the present conditions whereby "extor- tionate" rents could be demanded and obtained, she said. Miss Collins said that a tenant's weekly rent should he related to his income. In some cases tenants paid up to 40% of their income on rent, while the majority paid from a quarter to a third. This did not includ~

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