Mum living in annexe - complaint made by a neighbour about this. Can we get in trouble?

[Motherof1and2dogs]

I will try to keep this as short as possible but as much detail as I can. Myself, my husband and my Mum all decided it would be a good idea to sell our previous homes and all move in together, this was down to many reasons, however the agreement was Mum was to have her own independence and own place to live so we agreed to find somewhere with an Annexe. The place we bought was advertised as an Annexe. When we viewed the property the Annexe at the time was just being used for a business and has no kitchen or bathroom, just a toilet so it was more like an outbuilding/ garage and not a proper annexe.

We have been in the new place since October 2024. The Annexe is not yet self contained, my Mum has to use our bath to wash and has a make-do temporary kitchen until we save up to get her a proper kitchen and bathroom fitted.

I have just had a neighbour knock to give us the heads up that another neighbour of ours has complained to the council that we have someone "living in our garage". Can we get in trouble for this?

Our plan was to contact the council when was was ready to start the building process to get planning permission and then make it a self contained Annexe, and understand we would have to pay council tax on this eventually but as it's just 2 rooms with a toilet I didn't think we would need to notify anyone? It doesn't have its own address and Mum uses our address for her post.

I am not really sure what to expect. I really hope this doesn't cause too many problems for us. I don't need this right now, we don't make any noise, I have a 2 year old and I am 14 weeks pregnant. I want to cry because we both work full time jobs, we work hard, pay all our bills, we are nice genuine people and we are being targeted already. One reason we moved is because we wanted a quieter lifestyle (moved from a busy town location to a small village) and it's not been the best experience so far :(

Could someone please let me know what could happen to us in this situation. I'm so worried we are going to have to move again.

No
a bedroom is not incidental
incidental means everyone inhabits the main dwelling for sleeping and living but use the incidental space as an extra
eg. gym, storage, car, hobby space etc.

Sleeping is not an incidental activity.

Not true I’m afraid. A building with a bedroom/where someone sleeps is never incidental. It is ancillary and requires specific planning permission and building control sign off. The fact that it doesn’t have a bath or fitted kitchen is irrelevant.

This may well constitute a change of use for the planning permission of the garage and you need to obtain legal advice.

The estate agents advert of “annex” has no bearing on the permitted use of the property and I do think it’s unusual that you wouldn’t have mentioned this to your solicitor and checked it was okay to do?

This.

Sorry OP but it sounds like you're in breach. You need change of use and building regs.

I'd also be concerned about your mortgage company. She may be classed as a dependant and at the least would be required to sign to say she has no claim on the property. I've just been through this last year

There's no point in trying to dodge it. If the council has had a complaint they are duty bound to investigate and then may action enforcement and you just don't want that hanging over your head. Just have a chat, most planning officers are very approachable.

OP you need to take legal advice and get the proper positioning on all of this.

Basically, what is OK to be used as an office / gym is very different to a space being used for residential purposes. And the fact that your Mother is already living in this space needs to be addressed and fast.

There are different regulations as to the permitted use of property.

Your neighbour has already put in a complaint, and in all fairness was entitled to do so. This isn't just going to miraculously go away, but if you address it all head on hopefully it can be resolved.

Ah ok
Sounds like OPs solicitor didn't really advise them on the limitations of the current planning permission then. If the OP asked them about this.

My mum recently had similar, she bought a property where the stand alone garage was converted, like yours had its own front door, bathroom (it doesn’t need a bath tub to be considered a bathroom), oven, fridge and freezer (which her council counted as an oven), she had to apply for a change of use for it to be used as an annex for someone to sleep in. Until then it was incidental use only, sleeping is not incidental. It was easy for her to get a change of use, but she had to prove it wouldn’t increase parking in the area, noise etc.

Yes that’s the question, did she instruct them to advise on this, or did she limit it to conveyancing. The fact they knew is irrelevant, what’s key is what did she ask and pay for legal advise on.

There are rules for a reason. If a large family squeezes into a small terrace house and then devotes most of yard to an outbuilding to sleep someone, then there's a knock on effect. Local services don't necessarily have the infrastructure etc. etc. It's pretty clear in the government guidance. Just because it seems a nice idea doesn't necessarily make it a good one. I've seen so many people breach local planning law one way or another, and carry on getting away with it. It is there for a reason and people seem to conveniently forget that.

How does it work with house insurance?

Yes - right from the start of the thread, all I could think about was her poor mum in the event of a fire at night.

Priorities I guess!

There will be regulations such as fire etc for a garage to be used to live in - I'm not sure the council would get involved I this?

You’re getting a lot of negative posts, OP (including my previous) so I just want to point out that if you sort this out, get planning permission for change of use, do the work required to bring the old office up to dwelling standards and get all the work signed off by building regs., you are likely going to have increased the value of your property, which will be a nice bonus after all the hassle.

Call the council. If there are issues get some legal advice. And get on with it. Follow the council process. Get the mortgage and insurance squared away, etc. Once it’s done it will be a good asset and a huge relief.

Is she sleeping in there? I'd move her into the home until you have sorted it out properly. It's a shame your new neighbour felt the need to complain to the council about it.

The council should have a Building Control department who deal with building regulations which cover this side of things.

Yes they would, it falls under Building Control.

Also think about insurance too - if she's living in there are her things insured? Is it covered for fire?

If the mortgage company knew the deposit money came from the mother they would have required a letter confirming the funds were a gift not a loan, otherwise DM could have a claim the property. Equally she would have had to sign a document as an adult living the property that she understood the circumstances in which she could lose her home.

I also find had to believe that a solicitor was so remiss as to not tell OP about change of use planning requirements. Nor to flag that the mother’s involvement in both funds and living arrangements needed to be declared to the mortgage company.

So it think it’s most likely OP and her partner didn’t tell the solicitor or the mortgage company anything.

For residential or an office? It's different

@AncientAndModern1 and @Stirabout a standalone bedroom is incidental or ancillary to the main house. It can't be used as a dwelling on its own if there's no kitchen or bathroom. It's effectively "just" a habitable room that requires the facilities of the main house.

If the mother's name isn't on the deeds then there would have been no need to disclose this or for it to have come up in conversation at all, really. She might have had to explain where a large deposit came from but other than that, nothing.

I think, if you just want peace and quiet in a place where everyone minds their own business, you may have made a terrible mistake moving to a village.