Shed laws: We can't allow the creation of a shadow back garden rental market

bad actors will exploit any loophole they are given, and this proposal risks handing them a significant one, writes Labour TD Conor Sheehan

Labour housing spokesman Conor Sheehan: 'This is a Government more interested in relieving political pressure than in delivering coherent solutions. File Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

The Government’s recent decision to allow landlords to rent out modular units in back gardens exempt from planning permission under a licensing system is not just misguided, it is dangerous.

It risks opening the door to a shadow rental market with little to no protections for tenants, and it raises the very real prospect of the incentivisation of what can only be described as “shedsits” across the country.