Housing Policy

The issue that I am raising relates to back yard dwellings and the new regulations that were announced over the summer. Regarding the regulations, back yard dwellings may work in a certain number of limited cases. I am not going to come in here and knock them, but it is only a certain limited number. There are already issues arising regarding the size of a dwelling, with the main one being that they are counted as class 3A buildings. One is allowed to build 45 sq. m, but if there is an existing small garden shed, garage, greenhouse, small store and so on, they are all counted within the 45 sq. m. However, the dwelling cannot be below 32 sq. m. A dwelling of 45 sq. m gives enough space for one or two people but 32 sq. m would be very small. If someone wanted to built one at 38 sq. m, the fact they had a small shed already would rule that out. If there is a small shed of 14 sq. m, for example, on the site, which would be a very small garden shed like one would have in Leitrim, Sligo, Laois or wherever, one cannot meet the minimum size of 32 sq. m. The way the regulations are framed, it is not possible to have a dwelling and a shed, greenhouse or store. I would say there are none going through in the Minister of State's county. There are certainly none going through in Laois at the moment. This is regardless of the size of the back garden, yard or site. I am dealing with a case where the owner has a site comprising 1.4 acres. In fact, it is nearly a field. It is a huge site. However, there is already a 15 sq. m small fuel shed on it. The fact that there is a 15 sq. m small shed on it means that the owner cannot put in a modular dwelling for an elderly relative on that site. Does the Minister of State get what I am saying to him? If we take the 15 sq. m from the 45 sq m., that leaves 30 sq. m, so they cannot put anything into it. I am dealing with another case where the owner has 0.6 acre - almost two thirds of an acre - but there is a garage on the site. It is a single-car garage, as is common in almost every rural dwelling around the country. That cannot be done there. I estimate that for 80% of homes and premises in the likes of Laois or most mixed counties where there are towns and rural areas, it will not work. It will be the shed or the dwelling. A number of other issues arise, such as where there are existing entrances onto regional and national secondary roads. What happens where a house has been given planning permission in previous years and there is an entrance onto a national secondary route or a regional road? There is the issue of water running off roofs. This is going to be an issue where there are neighbouring dwellings. There is the distance from the next-door neighbour. This will become an issue in more urban areas. I live in a housing estate, for example. If there was a modular building put in the garden each side of me at 0.6 metres from the house, that is two ft from my house. That will become an issue and needs to be revisited. This is the key issue. There is no inspection by the local authority. There is simply a requirement to notify the local authority with a minimum of 14 day's notice. The memo from the Department to the local councils states that this provides the basis for each planning authority to report to the Minister for housing on a regular basis about the uptake of the measure. That is what it is for. It is only to report to the Minister how many has been done, but there is no site assessment or nothing is being done with these. There are a number issues there that need to be sorted out.

It can work for a limited number of dwellings but there are problems there. I raise these sincerely and I am appealing to the Minister of State and to the senior Minister to resolve this.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to update Members on this important measure, which was signed into law during the summer recess following the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas at the end of last term. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. The Deputy has asked some very technical questions. I do not have the answers but I will certainly endeavour to get those answers for him. On 27 July 2026, a suite of exempted development regulations came into effect to expand the exemptions available to homeowners to maintain and improve existing residential dwellings. The central purpose across all the changes that have been introduced is to facilitate the efficient use of residential space through enhancements, expansion or adaptation over the different stages of the life cycle while also lifting a regulatory burden on both the citizen and the planning authorities. The revised exempted development regulations include a new class 3A, which allows for the construction, erection or placing of a detached house in the rear garden of a principal house, subject to certain conditions and limitations, as set out in SI 340 of 2026. It should be noted that planning legislation does not specify the method of construction and, therefore, class 3A is referred to as a detached house in the rear garden of a principal house and not specified as a modular home. I can confirm that all relevant building control legislation shall apply to such structures, including building regulations such as fire safety and building control regulations. On 28 July, the Department published guidance on the application of building regulations and building control regulations, highlighting the principal matters, including fire safety, that needed to be considered when building an auxiliary dwelling in the rear garden of an existing dwelling house. This material highlighted that the performance requirements of the building regulations for a new dwelling would apply to such structures and confirmed that the key building control procedures that would apply included the requirement for certification by appropriate qualified professionals. A planning circular was also issued to the planning authorities at the end of July with guidance on the expected operation of the measure. Those who wish to utilise the planning exemption must notify the relevant planning authorities at least 14 days before they commence the work on the development, as set out in condition No. 16 of class 3A. The regulations also require that the planning authorities will report to the Minister on the notifications received regarding the use of class 3A. This will provide a basis to review the uptake and operation of this measure over time, as is appropriate for such a new measure. The Deputy raised some interesting issues regarding garden sheds and whether they would be taken into consideration when looking for a new modular development in the back garden. These are areas to which I do not have the answers but I will certainly be glad to raise them with the Minister on the Deputy's behalf.

To summarise it, the key issue is fairly straightforward. If you take any county outside the Pale, very few houses would not have some structure there already, such as a garage, greenhouse, store or whatever. That is the problem. It is going to be a shed or it will be the cabin or modular development. I know they do not have to be modular and can be a different type of self-contained structure. They will work in certain cases and I welcome that, but they are not moving at the moment. There is no one moving on them because of these problems. The big message I want the Minister of State to take back to the senior Minister and to the senior officials in the Department, because this has not been thought through properly, is that by bundling existing sheds and greenhouses in class 3 structures in with the new class 3A, you are taking up so much of the 45 sq. m that you cannot have the cabin. That is the problem. You cannot have the backyard dwelling. That is one thing that needs to be sorted out. The second thing that needs to be sorted out is the size of the site. The Minister of State gets it. He is from a rural area, so he understands what 1.4 acres is. It is massive. It is a small field. However, despite the fact that the existing dwelling on the site has been there a long time and is serviced by town water and town sewerage, people cannot move on it. They cannot put the small modular or backyard cabin on this site for the elderly relative because there is an existing fuel shed of 15 sq. m. The 15 sq. m leaves them with 30 sq. m., but the minimum they can be is 32 sq. m, so it is game over for them. That needs to be taken into account. The way the measure is constructed at the moment is not practical. The Minister of State is saying that these dwellings will require certification and be subject to building regulations, but who is going to inspect them? All people have to do is notify the local authority 14 or 15 days before they are going to put it in there and that is it. That is a problem.

With regard to housing estates, there is the proximity to existing dwellings on tight housing estates with small backyards. Those are the three things I ask the Minister of State to bring back for me.

As with all new legislation, time must be given to allow for the operational implementation of the new measures across the 31 planning authorities. Where any individual has concerns about the use of any exemption, they can engage with the relevant planning authority prior to submitting their notification to use a class 3A exemption. It is a matter for the planning authority to investigate any concerns raised on a case-by-case basis and determine if enforcement proceedings are or are not required, as the case may be. Under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage "shall not exercise any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or [An Commission Pleanála] is or may be concerned." The Minister is specifically prevented from interfering in individual cases, which is most important to maintain the independence of the planning authority and the commission. I know the Deputy is not talking about any particular case but he has come up with some interesting views regarding existing sheds and greenhouses and how they may not be taken into consideration in the development of these modular homes, the size of the sites at 1.4 acres, and there not being enough space in housing estates. It is new legislation. I would say that a lot of the issues the Deputy has raised have been teased out, but I am happy to bring them back to the Minister and discuss them with him. I thank the Deputy for raising these important issues.