Would you live in a cabin out the back? Cabinet discusses exemptions for 'beds in sheds'

Proposals to introduce planning permission exemptions for back garden cabins and modular homes of up to 45 square metres have been brought before the Cabinet. 

Under current rules, an extension to the rear of a property is exempt from planning once it is less than 40 square metres and is attached to the property.

Under the new rules any new unit (which can be independent of the main property) must comply with building regulations while the size of the residual private garden space of 25 square metres must be retained and set back from boundary walls.

A four-week public consultation on the proposed changes is now underway.

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Fianna Fáil TD Ryan O’Meara discussed the Bill in the Dáil earlier this month stating: “It is not the solution to the housing crisis but it has the potential to be part of it, particularly, although not exclusively, for younger people.” 

Kerry TD Michael Cahill said he is favour of the proposed changes: “They must be allowed to go ahead and they should also be available for rent.”

Orla Hegarty, Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture in UCD expressed reservations about the proposed planning exemption on Morning Ireland: “We need to be careful about deregulation because the regulations are there for a reason.”

Hegarty said that deregulation of planning permission in back gardens in the UK has seen the rise of “beds in sheds” of a “very low standard”. 

Commenting on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, Sunday Independent columnist Conor Skehan said the new measure could see the “better utilisation of land”, adding: “It would unclog the planning system to some extent”. 

Skehan and Hegarthy both addressed concerns for the practicalities of fire safety and sanitation for back garden homes; Multiple cabins on a single street could put strain on a waste system, and should a fire break out in a modular home in a back garden, emergency services may not be able to reach the scene. 

Skehan cautioned that “There’s an awful lot of evidence of lobbying with the construction sector and other people to trim back on regulations”.

Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne has lambasted the proposed bill: “The government’s half-baked plan seems to be to simply move people from their parents’ spare bedrooms into glorified garden sheds.”

Student Natalie Byrne (19) also disagreed with the implementation of cabins in back gardens as a solution to ease the housing crisis, commenting: “People only go to these inadequacies when they are desperate. Shame on the government”. 

Freddie Fallon (21), also a student, said he would consider living in a back yard unit only if there was a kitchenette with a bathroom and shower included in the structure.

It's understood the Minister for Housing, James Browne, is hoping to see the bill pass though the Oireachtas before Autumn, allowing it to be signed into law before the end of the year. 

The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill is also hoping to reduce, where appropriate, the need for planning permission for minor developments - such as schools requiring extensions.