Soc Dems cllr lets illegally converted home gym for €1,450

A Social Democrats Dublin city councillor has been letting a converted home gym as a granny flat despite not having planning permission to do so.

Tara Deacy has been letting the two-bed granny flat since at least 2018 for €1,450 a month.

Dublin City Council in 2008 gave Deacy planning permission to construct a 51 square metre home gym and storage building at the rear of her home in Crumlin. She later decided to convert the building into a rental property but didn’t seek planning permission, which contravenes the 2000 Planning and Development Act.

An advertisement published in February 2018 shows that Deacy initially sought rent of €1,600 per month. Deacy clarified to The Ditch however that rent was set at the lower €1,450. "It is registered with the RTB and I have declared the rent in my declaration of members interests as a councillor," she said.

Deacy, who has been a Social Democrat councillor for the Kimmage–Rathmines ward since 2019, was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2020 General Election in Dublin South Central. She has lived and worked in Dublin since 2005 and is currently employed as a prevention officer with the Clondalkin Drug and Alcohol Task Force.

Before her election to Dublin City Council, she told The Dublin Inquirer that "we need to stop approaching housing like it’s a commodity," adding that her "number-one priority will be to ensure the council plays its part in tackling our housing shortage".

Deacy said the adjoining property is her family home and that it was bought by her husband. She confirmed they had sought planning permission for a home gym but then "made the decision due to financial difficulties to rent it out".

She said, "Our home is still in my husband's name," adding that she and her husband had been negotiating a divorce settlement and that once this was finalised "these issues will be rectified in due course", adding "I am doing everything I can to move things on."