‘Practical’ to allow garden homes to be rented out privately, Taoiseach says

It is due to practicality that the government changed its mind on allowing garden homes to be available to rent privately, the Taoiseach has said.

Micheal Martin said it “makes sense” to allow for a “variety of accommodation options”, and said the measure was about “alleviating pressures on the housing sector”.

The Government is to exempt modular units up to 45 square metres in size in gardens at the back of people’s homes from requiring planning permission.

There had been discussions in Government about whether to bring such dwellings under the Rent-a-Room Relief scheme, which allows someone who rents a room in their home out to earn up to 14,000 euros tax free.

Concerns have been raised by Threshold that “substandard” garden units could be rented out without appropriate inspections under the proposals, and that such “garden homes” should only be used by carers or family members.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Martin said he accepted that it was “a new departure” but that government would keep the measures under review.

“We believe they should be available for rent, we’ve reached an accommodation on that, and that will be the proposal,” he said.

“It is about supply, it’s about alleviating pressures on the housing sector.

“Our population is growing, we are part of the European Union, many people come from the European Union to work in Ireland in many of the technology companies and our health services and so on.

“So having a variety of accommodation options, I think, is important and makes sense.”

Asked what had changed about the government’s stance after they initially stated it would not be used for private rental, Mr Martin said that they needed to be “practical”.

He said he did not believe parents would build a modular home costing “up to 80,000 euro if it couldn’t be used” for private rental after their son or daughter had moved out after several years.

He added: “We will keep it under review. We do accept it’s a new departure, but we will keep it under review and if we need to change or amend that in two years’ time following a review, I think we will.

“Momentum is everything because our population is growing, we have a lot of pressures on our housing system.

“The rental room scheme works very well and works very well for students. I think we have to be innovative, because the scale of the housing challenge is enormous, and we should acknowledge that.”

Housing Minister James Browne said the cabins would be of a “very high standard”, and the details would be provided after proposals are approved by Cabinet.

“These will be brought to Cabinet, and we’ll be able to provide more detail, obviously, after that point, once government has approved it,” he said.

“But these have been very well thought out, and they will have their own facilities within those units.

“I mean, these will be of a very high standard, and abide by building regulations.”

The Taoiseach and Mr Browne were speaking at a sod-turning event in Fairview in Dublin, at a site where construction has begun on 779 apartments.

The homes are due to be completed at the end of 2028, while Richmond Village is due to be fully completed by 2029.

Mr Martin said that Tanaiste Simon Harris was at an event in Drogheda, Co Louth, marking the construction of 600 houses, and on Wednesday, Mr Browne would be in Drogheda for an event on a further 600 new homes.

“So all told, we will be turning the sod on 2,000 new housing units. That is very significant momentum in terms of the housing issue facing this country,” he said.

He said there would be more than 36,000 homes built this year.

During a speech at the event at Fairview, Mr Martin said sod-turnings mark the point where “plans turn into reality” and said that “the pipeline is growing, and confidence is strong”.

“We need many, many more developments like Richmond Village, not just here in Dublin, but right across the country, so that people have houses that they can afford.

“We appeal to people to work with us and communities to work with us, to enable the younger generation to get access to houses that they can afford to either buy or to rent – that is the critical issue.

“It’s the generations who do not have housing that we must be thinking about, not ourselves, and we have to make every effort to make sure that projects get through and get through as quickly as possible.”

Mr Martin also noted the “unique historical connection” as James Joyce lived in the area as a teenager, and said the site is mentioned in “one of my favourite books as a young graduate” A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

He said the site was “the starting point of a journey taken on foot to university in Dublin city, so I’m sure the new residents would be delighted to know that even then it was within walking distance of the city”.