‘Let couples in need of homes build cabins in back gardens’

DUBLIN City Council is set to debate plans to allow people to build wooden cabins in back gardens as families face ever-rising house prices.

One councillor John Lyons says the option of building a temporary cabin in a family member’s garden can be ‘a sensible proposal’ for young couples saving to buy their first home.

One couple, Marc Carroll and Sharon Brerton, who built a 52sq.m cabin in the back garden of Ms Brerton’s parents’ house in Raheny, are awaiting a court ruling after planning chiefs An Bord Pleanála ruled that the structure would have to be torn down.

The couple, who live with Ms Brerton’s eight-year-old son, hope to buy a home and are saving for a deposit. Living in the cabin since it was built in December 2016 has saved them thousands of euro in rent.

But Dublin City Council received a complaint that the structure was ‘an eyesore’, and in May 2017 granted retention permission for the cabin for two years, after which it would have to be torn down. This was appealed to An Bord Pleanála which overturned the permission. Other couples are living in similar prefab cabins on family property after being squeezed out of the market.

Councillor Mr Lyons, who has introduced the motion, said such homes should not be viewed as a long-term solution – but should be permitted in the context of the housing crisis.

‘A lot of people out there want to step out of a dysfunctional private rental market to save up a deposit on a house,’ the People Before Profit councillor said. The motion will be debated in September.