New guidelines allowing for smaller apartment sizes were announced on Tuesday by Minister for Housing James Browne.
Aiming to cut costs and increase construction, the plans will reduce the minimum size of studio apartments from 37sq m to 32sq m.
For those living just within or even below the current legal space requirements, the thought of living somewhere even smaller is difficult to comprehend.
Criodán Ó Murchú (27) and his fiancee, Laura (27), currently live in a mobile home in Galway. It measures just under 37sq m, and is on Laura’s parents’ property.
He says their current living space is “unsustainable and incompatible with the life we want to live”. The couple are “quite limited in the amount of things we own and use”, and had to get rid of their kitchen table as it “occupied far too much space”.
Mr Ó Murchú says he cannot imagine making this space any smaller, as it would be “mentally taxing”. He feels the housing market continues to outpace the couple’s capacity to save for a bigger home.
While he’s not surprised the Government is considering reducing apartment sizes, he is against it.
“We want to start our family, and have children. However, that is indefinitely on pause until we move to a space larger than here.”
Family planning for Brendan Thornton and his partner Katie Byrne has also been put on hold due to their cramped living space. They live in a small two-bedroom bungalow in Dundalk with their three-year-old son.
Mr Thornton was in a road traffic collision in 2001 which left him requiring a wheelchair. He was provided the bungalow two years later through Clúid, a non-profit housing body.
He says the space suited his needs when he lived alone, but it is not big enough to accommodate three people. He keeps his medical equipment and parallel bars in his son’s room. The couple also removed the doors between their kitchen and livingroom to create more space.
The couple “would love to have a second child” but are limited by the size of their home. Mr Thornton noted he uses a small wheelchair, and says someone with a larger or electric wheelchair would struggle to move around in his home.
He thinks a reduction in minimum apartment sizes would “make things more difficult for people”, limiting the options of those planning on having a family.
Pamela Kavanagh, head of communications at the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) says wheelchair users will be further pushed out of the housing market if the minimum size of a studio apartment decreases. She notes there is “very minimal housing stock available for people with disabilities”, whether they are looking to privately rent or purchase a wheelchair-accessible home.
“Housing is one of the biggest issues” for wheelchair users, acting as “the main barrier towards true independence”, she says.
Ms Kavanagh says the IWA has yet to be consulted on the guidelines.
Ciara Gavin (26) and her partner Morgan Hegarty have been living in a small apartment in Cork for the last three years.
Ms Gavin describes her living space as “quite claustrophobic” but the couple “would almost be used to it now”.
“When we first moved in here it was a struggle. My partner and I get on very well but if we were to have a fight, there’s nowhere. You can’t really get away from each other in that space.”
Working from home is “not ideal” in these conditions, Ms Gavin, who is a PhD student, says. “If there’s anything else going on in the flat you couldn’t really sit and focus. I couldn’t take a meeting here if my partner was working from home as well, that would be completely impossible.”
Despite the drawbacks of the apartment’s size, she said they feel fortunate to have found any property to rent. “We were only looking for a few weeks ... The housing market in Cork, it is impossible to find somewhere, so this was an incredible stroke of luck.”
Daniel Heneck (26) from South Africa has had a more positive experience in his 25sq m studio in Dublin. Living in a studio gives Mr Heneck a “freedom” that can’t be found when sharing a space with housemates. “I can cook, clean and shower whenever I want without having to co-ordinate.”
He never feels “completely isolated”, as “there’s always some background buzz in the building, even if it’s just strangers chatting in the hallway”.
He says it can be “harder to meet people” when living alone. “It seems like those living in shared apartments make connections more naturally, while those in studios are left hovering a bit on the fringes.”
“Alice” (44), who chose not to use her real name for fear of intimidation from her landlord, has lived in a 33sq m apartment in Dublin 8 for five years. She says she feels trapped in her housing situation, for which she pays almost €1,000 a month. She avails of the Homeless Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) support scheme.
Alice said the “feeling of claustrophobia” has negatively impacted her mental health. Other stressors surrounding her housing situation – including the presence of mould, rats, constant noise from neighbours and construction and a difficult relationship with her landlord - led her in the past to being prescribed anti-anxiety medication.
Government plans to reduce the legal minimum apartment size limit are “scandalous,” she thinks. “It’s going to encourage current landlords to start renting out cupboards and wardrobes to people so they can live in them. Places that are stupidly small and don’t have facilities. This apartment that I’m in now isn’t facilitated to have a bathroom on my floor.”
“I’ve never felt safe here. I’ve never felt healthy here ... I hate coming home,” she says.
Maisy-Rose Keane (22) has started online counselling to help deal with the stress of living in a cramped space. She moved into a small studio apartment in north Dublin with her partner in September. It is their first-ever space together; “bedroom, kitchen and bathroom all rolled into one”.
While they enjoy sharing a space, Ms Keane notes the size of their home has “impacted both our quality of life and our relationship”. Her partner’s work requires a large computer set-up, which the apartment’s size does not allow for. This has left him commuting to his family home in Wexford to work, in between attending college in Dublin.
She said if they were to lose 5sq m of their apartment they wouldn’t have a bathroom.
“Unfortunately, those making this decision will likely never have to experience living in a windowless 32sq m [apartment], and I hope for their sake they never do. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
Maggie Kobick (35) has also struggled with her mental health as a result of her lack of space. She pays €860 a month for a 19sq m apartment in Rathmines, which measures well under the current legal minimum requirement. Having lived there for seven years now, she describes the experience as “very degrading”.
“I have become increasingly anxious because I feel physically confined and trapped,” she says. However, relocating doesn’t seem financially viable, with bigger studio apartments on the market being “double the price”.
She finds herself “constantly” bumping into furniture. “I’ll whack into a door frame, the sink, the table.”
The lack of space has also limited her access to hobbies and creative outlets such as music and pottery. “I tend to have hobbies that require storage and I just can’t do any of them there. There’s no space for spreading anything out.”
