A key headline across the Irish media this morning was news of a “move to ease planning laws for back garden modular homes.”
On Morning Ireland, listeners heard that planning rules on cabins and modular homes in back gardens could be relaxed as part of the government’s efforts to address the housing crisis.
RTÉ reports that the measure is being examined by new Minister for Housing John Cummins, and comes as recent changes were made to planning laws. While it is currently the case that extensions of up to 40 square metres to a home can be built without planning permission approval must be sought if structures of the same size are not attached to the home itself.
Minister Cummins is reportedly looking at whether it is possible for planning exemptions to be introduced for free-standing modular or cabin-style homes. The proposal will be put to departmental consultation within government, followed by a public consultation.
If sleeping in sheds or garden rooms is one of the best and brightest ideas our government can come up with, then I’m of the opinion that things are clearly dire. What is being proposed is not a triumph from the government, but rather an obvious indication of its failure. A government which has consistently failed to meet its own housing targets looks like it’s already throwing in the towel, despite all the lofty election promises.
Judging by the positive tone of the coverage around a potential modular homes breakthrough (it’s one of today’s top stories) there is the implication that as young people, we are actually meant to be grateful.
It’s a pretty bleak message from the government: If you’re a young person paying a runaway rent or still living in your childhood bedroom, forget about getting on the housing ladder, because we can help you build a shed in your parent’s garden. This must be the new, better, progressive Ireland they promised us?
We also learned today that, according to Central Statistics Office figures, the Residential Property Price Index increased by 8.7pc in the 12 months to last December 2024. 16 months of consecutive increases now mean that the typical price of a home across the State is now €200,000 more expensive than a decade ago. But don’t worry, say those tasked with solving the problem, we have the perfect solution – shed living.
It’s deeply demoralising. I’m still in my twenties, and most of my friends, some well into their thirties, are continuing to live at home. The majority are renting. Those in their thirties who have been able to buy houses have only been able to do so because they lived at home into their thirties and saved carefully and managed every penny. Some I know who succeeded in buying a home have now rented out a room (or rooms) in the house to a tenant to try and keep up with the eye-watering cost of the mortgage. It’s not an easy time for any young people who do not have the privilege of a silver spoon.
Not only is such a plan utterly depressing, but our government themselves have shown that modular homes are not the answer. We’re told that modular homes are more efficient and cost effective, but our government – who now seem so keen to prove this – have evidenced, with their own wastage and incompetence, the complete opposite. While the modular process might mean that the home can be built, set and finished much faster than other homes, the costs can escalate, and end up comparable to a stick-built home. In September, we learned, incredibly, that the average cost of modular homes for Ukrainian refugees, built by our government, rocketed to €442,000.
The cost of each home ballooned to more than twice the initial expected cost, according to a review by the State auditor (The Department of Integration had estimated that the homes would cost €200,000 per unit).
“[The Department of Integration] stated that other factors contributing to the increased budgeted cost included project-specific price increases; and wider economic and inflationary measures, such as supply chain difficulties and energy cost increases,” the C&AG report reads.
There was a bit of discussion around the plan this morning, and I read this comment from a user called Missus M: “We are currently on the hunt for a site to build modular for our large family, and need to be able to accommodate my dad in the near future too. I nearly fell over last night from shock… over 400k plus site plus cost / utilities / slab etc for what is pretty much a barn.”
Maybe the reality is that the same government which spent €350,000 on a bikeshed at Leinster House – which doesn’t even keep the bikes dry – cannot really be trusted to come up with real solutions for housing.
Our politicians have spent the last decade incentivising the private market through tax breaks and development levy waivers. Since 2021, bulk purchasing of land and property in Ireland has increased by 233 per cent. A motion put forward by Rural TDs last year noted that four in ten new homes in 2023 were bought by bulk buyers. Homes leased back to the state for social housing are exempt from the tax which applies to other homes.
A complete ban on bulk purchasing by foreign-domiciled funds, applying to companies controlled by those from outside Ireland, could be a solution. We know that other EU countries have banned foreign property buyers to ease housing crises. While EU laws make such a thing difficult, we should at least ask if Ireland could potentially look to doing the same.
What is apparent is that the State is willing to legislate cabin living before admitting that a massive part of the issue is the soaring immigration which has shut so many Irish-born people out of the housing market. During the past 10 years, the population has risen so much that three in four people cannot find available property to rent or buy, and the Irish Central Bank has pointed to more than a decade of undersupply.
We are not allowed to be mean and complain about the immigration crisis, and to add insult to injury, we should accept the kind offer of building an overpriced shed in the back garden. Let them eat cake, I suppose.
The homes which were, not long ago, an emergency, temporary solution for Ukrainian refugees, are now being touted as the way out of a crippling housing shortage for our own young people. We should let that sink in.