Confusion over government plans for ‘beds in sheds’, says Tipperary councillor
Confusion surrounds Government plans to allow log cabins and modular homes in back gardens, a Tipperary councillor has said.
Speaking at the April meeting of the Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District, Sinn Féin councillor David Dunne said the proposal could help ease the housing crisis but warned that key details remain unclear.
The Government is currently examining legislation to grant planning exemptions for modular homes in the back gardens of people’s homes in an attempt to provide much-needed housing.
The plans have been met with opposition from TDs with some saying that the plans amount to “beds in sheds” and would lower the quality of rental accommodation across the country.
If approved, the legislation could be in place as early as this summer, with homeowners not required to apply for planning permission for the log cabins. Homeowners would also be able to earn €14,000 per year by renting out these log cabins as part of the plans.
Asking representatives of Tipperary County Council’s planning section if they got any briefing from the Government about the plans, Cllr Dunne said he was concerned about people who have already installed log cabins and are facing enforcement orders.
"We’re reading it in the press, and that’s the problem. We’re reading that there’s an exemption for planning, we’re reading that you can rent them out, we’re reading all this stuff, but there’s no policy and the planners know nothing,” Cllr Dunne said.
"I have people that are in these buildings that are under planning enforcement orders and they’re worried out of their mind and they’re waiting for a knock on the door to say they have to tear this thing down.
"I’m hoping that planners will take an easy approach to the situation in relation to enforcement orders while they’re waiting on the bill to come before the Government,” he said.
The Sinn Féin councillor said that modular homes in back gardens have a place in the current situation, but that they shouldn’t be allowed for everyone.
In response, a representative from Tipperary County Council’s planning section said that planners knew as much as the councillors do.
"We know as much as ye do at the moment, all we’re seeing is what comes in the newspaper and on the radio, we haven’t gotten the nuts and the bolts from the Department of Housing yet,” the meeting was told.