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.

It may be one household but it’s not one house.

I apologise. Yes you are right of course. The build could meet residential building regs and still not get planning permission which is why you should get planning permission or at the very least have a conversation with the council before investing in building work.

You're not doing anything wrong while she uses the main house for washing. Once it becomes self-contained with kitchen and bathroom you'll need planning permission in case it's let to a non-family member.

Ignore them for now. Get legal advice when you're ready to sort out the kitchen and bathroom. A quick Google search and look at results from solicitors (LLPs) should put you mind at rest.

I am discussing this idea with my own mother (who is MUCH older than 58) so believe me I am taking it very seriously. As well as planning and building regs issues (very important) There are other considerations, practical, financial and ethical. What proportion of the house do they own? What if they decide to move out - do they get their money back/force us to sell? What if we need to move/downsize? What about inheritance? I know that the mother here only had a mobile home so it’s likely only a comparatively small investment but I am concerned that the mother now has no proper home & the money has gone.

I'd say use as incidental to the dwelling means it can't be used as a dwelling itself, which it currently is. So it needs sorting.

The clue is in the original post. They all agreed this and so presumably. OP mum viewed the property and knew what she was getting into. If she has control of all her faculties then she has her own part in this. And they don’t necessarily need planning permission unless the annexe is a completely separate building with it’s own access. But don’t let facts stop you spewing irrelevant bile.

There is no difference. I want to convert my outbuilding into a proper utility room and it has to meet residential building regulations. I have had the meetings with the council building inspectors

Wrong again. It’s where she lives and sleeps that is the issue. Not the fact that her bathroom is very basic or the kitchen is a ramshackle fire hazard.

Sorry but this is incorrect
You do not need an extractor in a bedroom, you do in a utility
You do not need a window in a utility as it’s not a habitable space, you do in a bedroom
You must comply with escape requirements for a bedroom, you do not for a utility
The list is quite endless
Both spaces need building regs but the reg requirements for each space are not the same.

Hi I work for the local authority and I would suggest that you call them ASAP and get some proper advice. You may need to change the ‘use’ of the annex so that someone can sleep in there and have some proper safety checks done. Your planning/ building control depts are there to help and they will not be forcing her out or knocking it down! Sounds like they will be in touch with you soon regardless so better for you to initiate the contact.

Two things spring to mind…

1. have you got in writing from your solicitors that your mum would be living there in the annex and they agreed this was allowed without contacting the council or anyone. If so hang onto this in case of any major problems with her living there.
2. As a PP has mentioned although what you’ve done for your mum is very lovely, you may have left her in a very vulnerable position legally unless you have had a contract drawn up as to what share your mum receives if: you divorce (verbal agreements never carry weight), either or both you and your DH go into care, or you die.

good luck x

i saw a programme a few months ago A family had a house with a unfinished Annex and they allowed some relatives to live in it and Council were very angry as wasnt listed as a liveable annex and it had no running water so Council made relatives move out and family had to demolish Annex

Did you solicitor not advise re change of use? There are really two types of planning consent - one for construction and one for use. The fact that you haven’t made any changes to it doesn’t change what you are factually using it for.

It’s an issue in places like Slough where a lot of people have rented out separate buildings at the end of their gardens for residential use, so probably councils are a bit hotter on it now.

This is not correct. If it is used for residential use, which it is now being used for, then it needs permission as it’s no longer an office or garage or whatever it is currently classed as. It’s the fact that someone is sleeping in there every night which makes the difference.

Lots of councils will take an interest in a “bed in a shed” situation as they are often exploitative. This may well be why the neighbour has reported. They’re not to know the mother has willingly and freely signed up for this and isn’t being ripped off. (Although if she sold her house how has it ended up that there is no money to prioritise her accommodation? It does all sound a bit crap for her.)

If there’s no kitchen / bathroom, and you state your mum uses it sometimes to get away from the noise of the house, it’s entirely legal and not considered a separate dwelling. Apply for planning to make it a self contained annexe and in the interim tell your neighbour to F off!

village folk are ODD as F.

If it's not technically inhabitable I.e no toilet there shouldn't be a issue regarding council tax. Wow some people have nothing better to do. They would only advise you anyway going forward

There is a bathroom - a loo and sink - and a kitchen with a cooker and fridge. But much more importantly, there’s a bedroom where the mother sleeps every night. And that’s a clear breach of the building’s planning permission and the building is extremely unlikely to conform to building regs.

Wrong! Who cares where she does her washing? Plenty of people dont wash at home and use a launderette. Does that mean they are except from building regs and planning permission?

It absolutely isn't entirely legal, it is being used as a dwelling for which there is currently no sign off and the building regs have not been signed off.
It would be very unlikely that the current building regs for a dwelling would be met without modifications, what those changes would need to be is obviously not possible to say without assessing the property.

Building regs and planning permission are very different. There alot of houses that have various parts to them not complaint with building regs, they are also changing all the time so most buildings aren’t complaint to modern standards. As long as you didn’t convert the building I wouldn’t stress about it. Also a lot of things can be built under permitted development. That sort of annex is incidental for the enjoyment of the family/occupants. Don’t stress nobody is coming after you right now unless you’d built or changed it without the correct permission.

For instance you don’t even need planning permission to add an additional 2 floors to a house or an extra storey to a bungalow. There’s a lot of crazy loopholes that exist if you follow the rules correctly. And in this case it’s not even relevant as you haven’t converted the building.

Also you don’t get change of use to a part of a residential dwelling. A house with an outbuilding in it is all residential still so it doesn’t change because somebody lives in part of it informally (and it is informal because they are using the house).

Let us know what the council say.

I think it's safer to rely on this advice from N Somerset Council than some random on the Internet:

Planning permission is normally not required to convert an existing residential out-building within the garden of the main house, such as a garage, to be used for ancillary accommodation provided that the unit is not self-contained and not used as a separate independent dwelling. An example of when accommodation is not self-contained includes where no kitchen or cooking facilities are provided.*

See for yourself: https://n-somerset.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2020-02/Residential%20annexes%20-%20detailed%20advice%20for%20planning%20professionals.pdf

Or this advice from Kingsley Smith Solicitors LLP:
In one important case, a garage detached from a house was converted into a “granny annexe”. The judge said that, even if the accommodation provided a “certain degree of independence”, the annexe did not as a result become a separate planning unit from the main dwelling. The living accommodation would remain part of the same planning unit with the house so long as it remained in single family occupation.

https://www.kslaw.co.uk/site/planning-law/your-planning-project/do-i-need-planning-permission/permission-specific-developments/

I haven't read the whole thread yet. In my previous house my DH built a fully insulated garden room at the back of our garden. It had electricity, lighting, heating and wifi. It had a single bed sized day bed with storage underneath. As we didn't have a spare room it was occasionally used as a bedroom if my DSis stayed over. Also one of my DD's mates used to stay over occasionally as he lived out of town. It never occurred to us to notify the council.

It’s not exactly a case of signing off
Its a matter of no application for this use whatsoever