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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
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.
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.
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.
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~
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.
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