Government's 'bed in a shed' plan highlights Ireland's desperate housing situation

In the midst of a housing crisis it seems utterly insane that people who have found their own cost-effective solution would be subject to enforcement orders, writes Elaine Loughlin

Subject to proper planning procedures log cabins and modular homes will be permitted to be erected on council serviced site around Laois

The Government's latest 'bed in a shed' proposal only highlights the desperate situation many people find themselves in and should not be celebrated.

The proposal to exempt log cabins from planning has been positively spun by the coalition as a way to "allow for a younger person to live independently of the family home" and also to give parents the option to "right-size within their own community while maintaining the support of their family in close proximity".

Currently, planning exemptions are in place for a 40sq m extension that is attached to a property. Junior Housing Minister John Cummins is now seeking to change these exemptions to remove the requirement for the extension to be attached to the main property.

But as Labour's Conor Sheehan put it in the Dáil on Wednesday morning, the Government is evicting people from the box room to move them into the garden shed. The proposal is simply addressing the reality that many young couples and families, unable to afford a bricks and mortar home or spiralling rents, have resorted to drastic measures.

Take a short trip around any semi-suburban area and the number of log cabins, portable buildings and modular homes that have been craned into back gardens will become apparent. 

As far back as 2019, the phenomenon of adult children moving into their family back garden was on the radar of Dublin city councillors. Back then, a proposal to relax regulations to allow log cabins was rejected as councillors deemed that it would result in the provision of small substandard dwellings.

“There are genuine concerns that a major relaxation or variation of the policy or standards to facilitate the construction of free-standing structures in rear gardens will result in the provision of dwellings with poor residential amenities and detract from the amenities of adjoining residential properties,” a report drafted by the city's Head of Planning, Richard Shakespeare, found.

Concerns around the pressure additional housing would put on sewerage and water systems that are already operating at over-capacity in many villages and towns has also been raised.

But left without any other housing option, many have resorted to illegally building cabin-style homes in family gardens. While there is uncertainty around the exact figures, a Facebook page that acts as a forum for those interested in opting for a log cabin has more than 33,000 members, a separate page that reviews log cabins has 19,000 members.

In the Dáil last year, Independent TD Mattie McGrath raised the case of a 66-year-old constituent who was facing court after Tipperary County Council refused retention planning for log cabin which was due to be demolished as a result.

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Mr McGrath said he was aware of at least 12 others in south Tipperary, some of whom were forced to remove log cabins by the local planning authority.

In the midst of a housing crisis it seems utterly insane that people who have found their own cost-effective solution would be subject to enforcement orders.

Acknowledging that modular homes and cabins are now sometimes the only option for families is a common sense approach from the junior housing minister. But in relaxing planning rules, the Government is also admitting that it has failed to provide affordable and long-term housing options.

As Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald put it to Micheál Martin in the Dáil: "To cast this up as a solution to the housing crisis simply highlights just how broken and how failed your response to the housing crisis is. Tinkering around the edges does not cut it, Taoiseach."