New laws to ban tiny shoebox apartment complexes have been proposed by Sinn Fein – but it may be already too late.
The party’s Eoin O Broin wants to change legislation to prevent planning permission being granted for the developments in the first place.
The quick-fix properties cram more people into smaller spaces by limiting private areas to just bedrooms and bathrooms, with shared living and kitchen facilities for everybody.
The proposals, which outline flats no bigger than disabled parking spaces, were praised by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy as a solution to the housing crisis.
But Sinn Fein’s move may have come too late as last month Dun Laoghaire County Council became the first local authority to grant planning permission for a co-living development.
Mr O Broin said: “Sinn Fein opposed the new mandatory guidelines at the time arguing they would reduce the quality of life for apartment dwellers while pushing up prices as they added significantly to the value of development land and in turn rent or purchase prices.”
