MODULAR UNITS IN people’s back gardens are expected to be “popular”, a minister has said today as the Government is yet to nail down the details of the proposal.

The impact the new rules around log cabins and modular units in peoples’ gardens will have on the rental sector is being tempered by those in Government today, who state there will be strict limitations.

Last February, it was proposed to exempt modular units up to 45 square metres in size in the gardens at the back of people’s homes.

It is understood that the Government initially intended for the proposals to free up planners to work on bigger, more urgent infrastructure projects.

There are mixed reports as to whether the plan was initially aimed towards family members or whether some in Government wanted garden pods to be rented out on the open market. 

Government has now floated the idea of bringing such dwellings under the Rent-a-Room Relief scheme, which allows someone to rent a room in their home and earn up to €14,000 tax-free.

The measure is due to go to Cabinet for approval in the coming weeks as the details are still being finalised.

The opposition has called it a shift in policy, stating that when the pitch was first made to exempt such units from planning, it was put forward as a measure to help family members, and not for the unit to be put up for rent. 

Not a ‘free-for-all’

Sources within Government have said the regulations of what will be allowed are expected to be “tight”. They added that it will not be a “free for all”.

It is expected that homeowners will be required to have 25 square metres of the garden to be left free between the main house and the modular unit.

For a garden pod to be put up for rent under the rent-a-room scheme, there must also be side access to the property.

Other limitations on the modular garden units are that there will be restrictions on height and there can be no separate connection to utilities, including water or wastewater utilities. 

The detached dwelling may not be used for the purposes of a short-term let. 

Tánaiste Simon Harris Sasko Lazarov Sasko Lazarov

Tánaiste Simon Harris said this morning that he believed it made sense to bring such dwellings under the Rent-a-Room Relief scheme, but said any measure further than that “brings you into a broader issue around rental standards”. 

Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Harris said the proposal aimed “to take the planner out of your back garden”.

He said this was being done to “free all the planning expertise to work on big projects at a time when that’s badly needed” and also “empower” families in relation to their own gardens.

“That’s what this is about and this was always a planning exempt measure,” he said.

He said there had been good discussions in Government recently in relation to the measure.

“As a former minister for higher education, I remember the benefit of rent a room to students, amongst others as well.

“So the idea that if somebody has a spare room, a spare space, that they can rent that out to students – or indeed others – capped at a certain amount each year, and that they would benefit through the tax system in relation to that being tax free.

The policy shift from the conception of the idea has been put down to how difficult it would be determine exactly who might be considered a family member and how that might be regulated.  

Rent-A-Room scheme

Harris indicated today that keeping these units under the Rent-A-Room scheme, and separate to the new tenancy arrangements, is the best option. 

“If you go further than that, I do think that opens up a wider range of issues around rental protection. So for example, we’ve just passed tenancy protection laws in relation to a six-year tenancy.

“My sense is, let’s get the planning exemption done. My sense is that on balance, the Rent-a-Room makes sense, on balance, because we do have a housing emergency, we should be taking practical measures to help people in the here and now.

“I think any step further than that brings you into a broader issue around rental standards, the role of the RTB (Residential Tenancies Board), six-year tenancies and the likes, but government will bottom out these discussions very shortly,” he said. 

Questions about tenants’ rights 

Michelle Norris, a former member of the Housing Commission, said there is a risk of renters being “significantly” impacted if the new modular scheme works in the same manner as the Rent a Room programme.

Norris told The Journal that this is because anyone renting accommodation under Rent a Room is considered a ‘licensee,’ not a tenant.

Reforms introduced by the Government last month mean tenants can see a stronger security of tenure through contracts lasting six years.

“If you are a tenant in the private rental sector, any rent increase is subject to certain security of tenure provisions,” said Norris, a Professor of Social Policy at University College Dublin (UCD).

But a licensee has “quite a different bundle of rights,” explained Norris.

“You’re essentially the same as a hotel guest. The rent is not regulated in any way—you can be asked to leave immediately without any notice, and there are no limits on how much rents can be increased.”

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), the watchdog for the private rental sector, is also not an option for recourse for anyone using Rent a Room.

Norris claimed this move was “incoherent” policy as the Government was strengthening tenants’ protections in the wider private rental sector, while incentivising the “supply of unregulated dwellings with no similar amount of tenancy rights.”

Higher Education Minister James Lawless said it his understanding that this was a “granny-flat type situation for the younger generation” but said there may be “fringe benefits” if it boosts existing stock.

“The likes of the log cabins, I think that’s actually a sensible move,” he said.

“People have wanted to do this for years, they’ve come to me in my constituency clinics, and the planning laws haven’t allowed them… I think it’s not an ideal long-term solution for anybody, but I think it may alleviate some pressure on families in those situations and there are many of them around the country,” said Lawless. 

He added: “We can’t have a free-for-all. We can’t just (be) dropping a cabin here, there or anywhere. I think it will be popular.”

With reporting by Eoghan Dalton