Joint Media Statement: Call to Halt Garden Home Exemptions Pending Full Review
Threshold, Age Action, the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) and Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ) are calling on Government to halt proposed exemptions for garden homes until a full review of license arrangements is completed and basic protections for occupants are put in place. The organisations are concerned by reports that the Government is planning to exempt garden homes from planning requirements and to extend rent-a-room tax relief to owners of these units. While the organisations recognise the urgent need to increase housing supply, they warn that this measure carries significant risks.
Threshold, Age Action, ICOS, and AMLÉ strongly caution against this proposal. Based on Threshold's frontline experience, those who privately rent garden homes are often treated as ‘licensees’, with little to no tenancy security, no protection from rent increases and no recourse if issues arise. Threshold regularly sees cases of people living under license arrangements in poor quality, substandard, cramped accommodation with no effective route to enforce minimum standards, all while paying a premium price.
Those renting an extension or garden shed are not necessarily licensees, but are often treated as such. The legal distinction between a licence arrangement and a tenancy can be complex, and in many cases, it must be determined by adjudicators at the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). However, regardless of how an arrangement is ultimately classified, no one should be left without basic housing protections.
Extending rent-a-room relief to garden homes risks further entrenching these insecure arrangements. Removing planning requirements also increases the likelihood that poorly designed and unsuitable housing will be delivered, without adequate oversight or assessment of local impacts such as additional demand on water or energy services.
Today’s proposal to make these units available within the private rented sector and to treat the income as eligible for rent-a-room relief is particularly concerning. Threshold, ICOS, AMLÉ and Age Action believe this approach has the potential to negatively affect the groups we support, including students and even older people who may come under pressure or undue influence from family members or third parties seeking to benefit from their property, as well as those already experiencing housing insecurity.
The organisations are also concerned that linking garden homes to the rent-a-room scheme could increase the growth of these informal licence style rental arrangements. Licence arrangements are not covered by the protections of the Residential Tenancies Acts. People renting under these arrangements (licensees) often have few rights and or no access to recourse through the RTB.
The organisations stress that creating large numbers of new insecure rental arrangements is not a solution to the housing crisis. Before introducing measures that may significantly expand licence-based renting, the Government must undertake a comprehensive review of the current use of licence arrangements in the private rented sector.
Threshold’s report Renting on the Frontier: Protecting the Rights of Licensees in Ireland published last September set out the issue in detail and made a series of recommendations that should inform policy changes in the area. While licence arrangements have a limited and legitimate role in certain circumstances, they have expanded far beyond their original purpose and now warrant urgent review.
Threshold, Age Action, ICOS and AMLÉ are urging the Government to pause these proposals and engage with housing experts and frontline organisations to ensure that any new measures increase housing supply without undermining renters’ rights or housing standards.