{"id":411230,"date":"2026-04-22T05:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T05:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/411230\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T05:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T05:22:09","slug":"back-garden-modular-homes-set-to-be-exempt-from-planning-rules-the-irish-times-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/411230\/","title":{"rendered":"Back-garden modular homes set to be exempt from planning rules \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government has defended its decision to exempt modular homes in back gardens from planning permission<\/a> in the face of a barrage of Opposition criticism that it would allow renters be ripped off by landlords.<\/p>\n

The Cabinet approved the exemption at its weekly meeting on Tuesday and decided that the modular buildings and extensions \u2013 which can extend to 45sq m \u2013 would also be included in the rent-a-room tax exemption, which allows the owner of the principal house to charge rent of up to \u20ac14,000 a year tax-free.<\/p>\n

The plans, mooted last year, have been criticised by some planning experts, but the Government insisted these can make a contribution to easing the housing crisis by supplying a new class of accommodation quickly.<\/p>\n

Planning exemptions for modular homes in back gardens will be subject to some requirements, including the size of the garden \u2013 at least 25sq m (269sq ft) \u2013 and meeting building standards. <\/p>\n

Only owner-occupiers will be allowed to construct such homes, while separate entrances and a minimum distance between the modular home and the main house will also be required. The accommodation rented out will also be done on licence rather than lease. <\/p>\n

Sources in Government said that no target had been set for how many such units would be built, but it will have data on the take-up. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will know in due course how many there are because those who avail of the exemption, you have to notify your local authority to let them know,\u201d the source said. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Agreement in principle on plan to allow tax-free rental of back garden cabinsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the same process for other exemptions. The local authority will feed that data then back to the Minister, so we will know how many people have availed of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social Democrats<\/a> leader Holly Cairns<\/a> criticised the Government\u2019s rent proposals for modular units and accused them of \u201cthrowing renters to the wolves\u201d.<\/p>\n

She cited a property close to Leinster House that accommodated 22 people paying up to \u20ac890 for a bed in a room with three others under a \u201cloophole\u201d arrangement.<\/p>\n

The landlord, she alleged, was \u201craking in almost \u20ac20,000 a month under a licensing agreement, rather any tenancy\u201d<\/p>\n

Cairns warned that the new deal could allow property owners engage in the same practice \u2013 leaving occupiers with no access to the Residential Tenancies Board<\/a> (RTB).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a return to tenement conditions which were rampant in the worst years of this State. It should not be tolerated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But the Government was \u201ccalling it practical and pragmatic to change to charge market rents for cabins in back gardens\u201d.<\/p>\n

She told Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> his legacy would see young people left to be \u201cripped off by landlords, to scrimp and save, to live in garden sheds, and to be denied their tenancy rights\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the Taoiseach said the Social Democrats had voted against and criticised every Government supply initiative over the past five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do not get supply up, we will not moderate rents. All the rest is just populist waffle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing is in crisis, but we are never going to solve it if we criticise every single measure that a Government introduces \u2013 which you have been doing now for five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour<\/a> housing spokesman Conor Sheehan said the plan to allow landlords to \u201crent out marginal units\u201d potentially opened the door to exploitation for vulnerable renters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you at least pause this until a full review of licence arrangements is completed and basic protections for tenants are put in place?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government has defended its decision to exempt modular homes in back gardens from planning permission in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,21010,3662,6189,1843,43,2549,13696,1419,5066,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-411230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-holly-cairns","10":"tag-housing-crisis","11":"tag-labour-party","12":"tag-micheal-martin","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-planning-permission","15":"tag-residential-tenancies-board-prtb","16":"tag-social-democrats","17":"tag-tax","18":"tag-top-news","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-topnews","21":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}