The Government is telling a generation of young people that their future is living in a shed in the back of a garden, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government\u2019s \u2018beds in sheds\u2019 policy is pockmarked with a litany of flaws. There is no mechanism to prevent these sheds from becoming AirBnBs or short-term lets, nor is there an affordability clause to prevent rip-off rents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis half-baked plan, which lacks any proper planning and regulatory considerations, is a recipe for exploitation. There is no reason to believe that these spaces will not be used to charge vulnerable cohorts sky-high rents, just as we\u2019re seeing across the rest of the rental sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats and I support modular housing and modern methods of construction, but only when it\u2019s done right, planned appropriately for communities and neighbourhoods, and has a positive impact on housing precarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue with the Government\u2019s policy regards planning, regulation and safeguards, or, more specifically, the lack thereof. The State has a responsibility to ensure accommodation is of a certain standard, affordability and quality, yet none of these assurances are built into its \u2018beds in sheds\u2019 policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular, the Government has a duty to ensure that our most vulnerable, those who are elderly or living with a disability, are not further socially excluded by a not-fit-for-purpose policy of deregulating and reducing housing standards that allows a free-for-all surrounding temporary structures in back gardens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis policy presents real risks: as we saw with the introduction of emergency accommodation as a crisis response to an increase in homelessness, what is introduced as temporary ends up becoming a permanent feature of this Government\u2019s approach to housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis policy lacks ambition, compassion and is, simply put, no solution for our housing woes. Instead, the Government must immediately introduce a ban on no-fault evictions, the greatest cause of homelessness across the country, and pivot towards policies which will adequately address housing provision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats proposals of a Homes for Ireland State Savings Scheme, modular homes factories and a State construction company would finance and deliver affordable homes at the scale needed to dig ourselves out from this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 30th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government is telling a generation of young people that their future is living in a shed in the back of a garden, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: \u201cThe Government\u2019s \u2018beds in sheds\u2019 policy is pockmarked with a litany of flaws. There is no mechanism to prevent these sheds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[663,10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homelessness","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n