A proposal to allow modular homes in back gardens without planning permission prompted a passionate debate on Liveline recently.
Callers expressed a range of views, from those who felt the so-called 'beds in sheds' should not form part of the solution to the housing crisis, to those who "welcomed them" as a step in the right direction.
Listen back to the full segment from Liveline above.
24-year-old Tommy from Kildare is still living at home with his parents. For him, the suggestion that younger people might move from a box room to a cabin in the garden is not a viable solution - it's just a lowering of standards, he says:
"I think young people in Ireland deserve better. Everyone should be given the equal and fair chance of actually getting home ownership. And I think this measure is simply not good enough. The government needs to go back to the drawing board and actually look at how they’re going to get young people to actually have home ownership."
Tommy spoke about the practical and psychological impacts of staying at home through his twenties: the stalled independence, the pressure to save, and the fear that renting just puts off the inevitable return to the family home:
"Realistically, I’m just going to run out of savings and then end up back at home, like a couple of my friends, and then you run out of savings, and you’re just prolonging how long you have to stay at home for. It’s really not viable."
Catherine broadened the discussion, arguing that any serious response to the crisis must think beyond temporary structures and address the infrastructure and planning choices that have led to the current situation:
"We should not be putting substandard sheds or wood cabins en masse. You transfer that into an urban are and the pressures would be unreal. When you talk about sewage, it's not just a question of pipes; it all has to go somewhere and be treated, and if you go over that capacity, the whole thing is banjaxed."
Other callers spoke in favour of modular homes, with some placing a share of the blame on the younger generations, suggesting that their expectations may be too high.
John, a man with three young adults living at home, said that it was a "step in the right direction" at the very least.
"We do welcome this," he said. "It's only part of a solution. I have three kids, I can't put three cabins out in my back garden! I can have one, it's a start. It's some help."
"People need a start," he continued. "They need somewhere warm, safe, and as a person said, whether it's a garage or a modular home in the back garden, either will work to start people off. That's what we're looking at. We're talking about younger people here, starting out and not losing them to emigration."
Ultimately, what emerged from the programme was not simply disagreement over modular homes, but a deeper unease about what counts as an acceptable answer to a long-running crisis.
To hear the full segment, listen back above or listen back to Liveline on the RTÉ Radio Player app.
