(1)The Secretary of State may make Exchequer contributions towards the expense incurred by a local authority in making an improvement grant.
(2)Subject to any order made by the Secretary of State under section 56 of this Act, an Exchequer contribution under subsection (1) of this section shall be a sum equal to three-quarters of the annual loan charges referable to the amount of the improvement grant, payable for each of the twenty financial years beginning with the year in which were completed the improvement works in respect of which the improvement grant was made.
(3)For the purposes of this section, the annual loan charges referable to the amount of an improvement grant shall (whatever may be the manner in which the local authority have provided or intend to provide the money requisite for making the improvement grant) be the annual sum which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, would fall to be provided by the authority for the payment of interest on, and the repayment of, an amount of borrowed money equal to the amount of the improvement grant, being money the period for the repayment of which is twenty years.
(4)A local authority shall pay to the Secretary of State three-quarters of any sum—
(a)recovered by them by virtue of section 31 of this Act in consequence of a breach of any of the conditions required to be observed with respect to the dwelling, or
(b)paid to them under section 34 of this Act in respect of the dwelling.
(5)Subsections (2) and (4) of this section shall, in the case of a local authority for any area in the Highlands and Islands, have effect with the substitution for the words " three-quarters " of the words " seven-eighths ".