Planning exemption proposals for garden cabins carry 'serious risks'

Housing minister James Browne said the Government is committed to exploring all routes to help to meet the 'urgent demand' for homes across the country.

Government proposals for planning exemptions for back garden cabins to use as homes carry “serious risks” and may have “unintended consequences”, a leading housing charity has warned.

Threshold said that substandard garden units could be rented out in the private rental market without appropriate inspections and protections in place, and could heighten the risk of elder abuse in such arrangements.

“Modular units like garden homes require clear regulatory frameworks and minimum living standards, especially if intended as long-term dwellings,” said Threshold’s national advocacy manager, Ann-Marie O’Reilly.

“Potentially placing more people into the private rental market without the protections of the Residential Tenancies Act is not a result anyone wants to see.”

During the summer, the Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to planning requirements that would see applicants no longer needing to apply for permission for certain types of developments.

These would include “detached habitable accommodation” to the rear of a home up to 45sq m in size.

The Department of Housing said it received over 900 submissions from the public on the proposals, which will inform the regulations that will be brought forward to the Oireachtas for approval.

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Housing minister James Browne said the Government is committed to exploring all routes to help to meet the “urgent demand” for homes across the country.

“The work being undertaken regarding exempted developments is one strand of our determination to unblock the planning system, and the work of our planners, so they can focus on and support us to deliver housing at the scale required,” said Mr Browne.

Opposition TDs have criticised the plans, with Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin saying the system would be open to abuse by unscrupulous landlords.

Threshold is also voicing its concerns and has called for a “comprehensive regulatory framework” to protect tenants, support vulnerable older people, and maintain quality of housing.

It said that many of these garden units could be rented out without the usual planning and safety frameworks and tenancy protections in place.

It said that, in its experience, people who privately rent garden homes often have little or no tenancy protections and can be evicted with little or no notice.

Threshold said exemption of such developments from planning permission would lead to greater gaps in official data on the number of garden homes.

This, in turn, could put significant pressure on local infrastructure not able to accommodate an increased number of homes.

The charity warned that vulnerable older adults could be put under pressure by family members and others to vacate their homes or build a garden home for rental purposes.

It said explicit safeguards must be put in place by the Government to ensure that any decision to relocate to garden homes by vulnerable older homeowners is made with their informed and voluntary consent.

“We recognise the urgent need to increase national housing supply,” Ms O’Reilly said.

“However, it is crucial that efforts to address housing supply do not inadvertently undermine housing security or even undermine the intended benefits of the increased supply itself. 

"Tenant protections, housing quality and appropriate protections for older family members are necessary.”