Dublin City Council set to pass motion allowing for the construction of log cabins
Cllr John Lyons believes this decision could greatly assist families in housing distress
At tomorrow’s meeting of Dublin City Council’s Planning Committee, People Before Profit councillor for Dublin Bay North, John Lyons, is proposing a motion that could positively impact upon the housing situations of many families currently trapped in the private rental sector and those priced out of the owner-occupier housing market.
The northside councillor has received numerous emails, texts and telephone calls from families who feel stuck in the midst of the worst housing crisis this state has ever witnessed, people who are seriously considering alternative options to escape the madness of the housing market.
Cllr Lyons said: “It is quite clear that we have a generation of young families who have been literally locked out of the housing market. Struggling to pay ever-rising rents, unable to save and with each passing day, further and further away from ever owning their own home, some families are buying log cabins as a way to escape all this madness, save some money with the aim having enough for a deposit in two-to-four years. It is a sensible reaction to an irrational and out of control housing market.”
The motion to be debated in City Hall tomorrow afternoon at 3.30pm reads as follows: ‘To amend Dublin City Council’s planning regulations to allow for the construction of temporary structures for residential purposes at the rear of residential properties.’
If passed, this motion will not end the housing crisis but it will provide some much needed financial breathing space for many families.
Cllr Lyons said:
“Of course the kind of political actions required to end the housing and homelessness crisis will include using all available and suitable public lands to build public and affordable housing, the introduction of real rent controls, a complete ban on family evictions, the introduction of a national affordable housing scheme, an extensive rollout of the new cost-rental model and robust private sector tenant protections and inspections regime, but until such time as we achieve these policy goals, we need practical measures that can positively impact upon the difficult housing situations many families find themselves in. My motion, if passed, will help these people.”
