Building homes in gardens to alleviate housing pressures is a “no-brainer” for Ciara Kelly. 

The Newstalk Breakfast host argues that drastic measures are necessary to address both current and future housing demand, pointing out that in Canada, a quarter of all rental units are attached to homes.

The idea was proposed by Progress Ireland, whose spokesperson Seán O’Neill McPartlin told today’s show that he wants the Government to change planning rules to allow ‘granny flats’ to be built more easily.

Urban areas

Ciara said it could prove necessary, considering the demands on urban centres in Ireland.

“That’s where people want to live, where education is, and where work is,” she said.

“If you look at Dublin, the number of garden spaces we have is the equivalent, in terms of hectares, of 300 Stephen's Greens.

“There’s loads and loads and loads of land we can use for this.”

A granny flat in the garden of a home. Image: martin hurley / Alamy Stock Photo

She said current laws exclude homeowners from building additional living quarters in their gardens.

“[We can build] home offices, we can put in little home gyms, people use them for storage and playrooms for kids,” said Ciara.

“But what we don’t allow people to do, for some reason, is actually live in them.

“You can’t rent them out or you can’t put a toilet into them.”

One-room buildings

Presenter Shane Coleman disagreed with the idea.

“I do absolutely believe that the solution to the housing crisis isn’t to build sheds in people’s back gardens as homes – I just don’t think it is,” he said.

“At the end of the day, they are one room. They’re one-room buildings.

“How is it going to work in practice? Where is the entrance to that home?”

'Good idea'

Ciara suggested some workarounds to his criticism.

“I don’t think they would be one room,” she said.

“I think they would have a bedroom, a living area and a shower room.

“I also think most people who do it would use their side access and I think this is a good idea.”

New research shows that Ireland’s population is growing at a rate four times faster than housing is being delivered.

Main image: Ciara Kelly in studio today. Image: Newstalk