Proposal to privately rent out garden homes ‘a recipe for disaster’ – opposition

The opposition has expressed concerns about the Government’s plan to allow housing units in back gardens to be exempted from planning rules so they can be rented out privately.

The Government is to exempt units between 32 and 45 square metres in gardens from planning permission.

Officials say the plan to allow garden homes to be rented out privately would boost rental supply during a housing crisis and free up planners for bigger projects.

Opposition TDs said there would be no oversight of the construction of these units and it could leave renters open to exploitation.

Labour housing spokesman Conor Sheehan said the proposal to rent out such units privately was “entirely unacceptable”.

“Yes, I accept that there is a need for more flexibility in relation to exempted development, but we need to see, number one, what is actually being proposed, because this has been flown now like effectively a shed in the wind for over 15 months,” he said.

“The Tanaiste (Simon Harris) is going around the place lately a bit like Larry King. He seems to have an opinion and a comment on everything, but we are waiting more than 15 months now for these – we need to see exactly what’s in them.

“This hasn’t been clearly thought through at all. It’s very clear that they’re doing this in response to pressure that they’re getting from their own backbenchers and from sectoral interests who want to make money.”

He said placing garden homes in the Rent-a-Room scheme was “opening the door to exploitation”.

“I think, should that happen, you mark my words, we’ll all be back here at six months or a year’s time where we have some horrendous example of some godforsaken shed in some poor part of the country that’s absolutely stacked with people.”

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said the party was “really, really concerned” about the lack of enforcement of standards on the units.

“The Social Democrats have said that in situations of family use, where it was done through planning, that there might be situations where this would be appropriate, but the idea of renting them out and allowing them to be rented out on a completely unregulated basis is a recipe for disaster,” he said.

“I cannot get over this – (this) is the future, to move from your box room to the shed?”

Asked about Micheal Martin’s assertion that the policy aims to be “practical”, he said: “My reaction is the Taoiseach is trying to fish for reasons to explain a policy that just actually is illogical.

“Of course, the other issue is, many of these will be turned into short-term let as well. That’s another issue with the regulations.”

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said the Government’s proposal had “evolved very dramatically”.

“Now, because of what the Government are proposing to do, it becomes a direct income source,” he said.

“It also undermines the rules and regulations around tenancy, because these people renting here will be doing so under licensed agreement.

“So this is a dramatic change. It’s a dramatic increase in the scope of this particular proposal, and the Government had just kind of slipped this in last minute.

“I’m really worried about light-touch regulation in this circumstance.”