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.

I bet that neighbour that "warned" you is just shit stirring
We had a busy body neighbour that would come over (with ger marigolds still on) to say that such and such neighbour is planning to complain to council about our tree/garden/burning garden waste. It was just her inventing rules and making up another neighbour that will supposedly complain.

I feel this is a good summary. I am a similar age to the DM, and I'm sure she really wants to help her DD. However, I'm concerned for her. There are many scenarios that could lead to her becoming homeless, even if the OP thinks she has her mum's best interests at heart. In the desperation to get a new house with the new baby, I can see how this would happen.

I wonder who suggested this set-up.

OP, make sure your mothers disability is mentioned in your correspondence to the council.
Her being on the ground floor is probably wise.

Oh they do investigate. And even if they don't, good luck when you come to sell.

Some people are just nosey pricks

Can you apply now for planning permission for the work you want to do ? That takes ages anyway and it'll show that you are going to go down the correct route. It'll give you time to save.

I know here in Ireland there's a fuck ton of hidden red tape, some interfering aul bag reported one of my Dss living in the shed. No ...he only gamed there and played snooker.

Anyway if it were me I'd move my mother into the house temporarily and Apply for all the permissions you need, if you can save in a few months you'll have it all up to code.

Well done for adding the relevant guidance, hopefully all these people that keep spouting nonsense will believe us now! To the OP you have nothing to worry about, the neighbours don’t have a leg to stand on :).

She will need building regs sign off regardless of whether she needs planning permission.

Selling with no building regs is a piece of piss, solicitors just sell indemnity insurance for such matters these days (I would know having bought a house with a converted garage & no building regs & the selling it on a few yrs later). This work and house sale was all done post 2010 so it wasn’t historic stuff either.

I'm glad you two have sorted that slight misunderstanding ! You're doing sterling work on this thread !

This. Its been said several times OP. The fact you've done nothing to it doesn't mean you can use it to live in!

OP I'm not sure if I found this or followed a link from up thread - either way this is very important because it's an appeal decision. If the council get difficult show it to them https://www.buckles-law.co.uk/blog/when-is-an-annex-not-an-annex-part-one-the-dangers-of-jumping-to-conclusions/

However you must ensure that building regs were obtained, otherwise you may have to do a lot of work quickly.

I can see why people might have an issue with rowdy airbnbs, but this is just an old lady living in an outbuilding - come on.

While I absolutely agree the neighbour hasn’t behaved well, I’d like to point out that an ‘old lady’ can be just as disruptive as anyone else. I know this because I live with my very deaf mother and her extremely loud TV and on-speaker phone calls. OP are you sure your mother isn’t disturbing the peace in your neighbours’ gardens more than you realise? I’d also be concerned about safety regarding a plug-in oven etc.

Toilet and sink = bathroom. A bath, shower, bidet etc, not necessary.

Sink + cooker + fridge more than = kitchen facilities. A built in fancy kitchen is not necessary.

This is a self-contained facility, that does not have permission to be more than a garage/store room.

However OP hasn't actually mentioned a sink, if there isn't one, this may not constitute a self contained dwelling. If there is one but it is in the same room as the toilet and not the same room as the cooking facilities, that may not constitute 'kitchen'.

I did wonder why nobody until a moment ago has suggested that deprivation of capital may be an issue. If mum is on means tested benefits or goes into a home at any point, there could be questions asked about why she effectively gave her money away.

Did you actually read and understand those links, @MyrtleLion and @Quicksilver15 ? 😂

Are you giving me homework?! 😂😂😂

It's a thread on a forum. It's not an exam on Land Law (which I passed fyi)

I didn’t read them, I work in this industry anyway. I know the legislation pretty well and all the inside workings.

Now don’t get me wrong nobody really knows the details of the issue or what’s really going on, but on face value from the description there’s nothing to shout about.

Just contact the council, and keep living your lives. Make sure you know what will happen if she goes to carehome later on

Or Planning Law even 😁

I've got friends who live in a bungalow, built as a self contained granny flat for a large house and then fenced off after granny died. All with permission and above board. My point it that subtlety changing the purpose and even boundaries of places DOES probably need permission because changing the feel of the whole space isn't very hard. But, obviously this happens legally. I would go to the council and explain what has happened. I don't think they'll make you tear the whole thing down. At worst Mum will need a bedroom in the main house, use the annex as her special room and sometimes stay over in it. At best, they will grant permission for change of purpose and you will be able to carry on as planned.

Just to say watch out re pooling resources. If you and DH are younger than 65 / not disabled and your mum needs residential care that she can't pay for, the council can force you to sell the house to pay for it.

It can get very, very complicated.

If you work in this Industry I’m amazed you don’t see the glaring red flags here
As an Architect I can say they are shouting out very loud.

OP is so so out of order here!

The OP's mother is 58

58

She's not 'elderly' or an 'old lady'

Most people of that age are expected to work for another 9 years before getting state pension.

Yet again, another Mumsnet thread full of ageism

This shit is what makes me miss australia so so much. This would be seen as so 'unaustralian' over there. And quite frankly, utterly cuntish.

Some Brits really are just nasty little busybodies. Ugh.

Out of curiosity and because I haven’t dealt with PD for some time - why? If it has been converted with a toilet, ancillary to the main house and they are using to house a family member who used facilities in the main house (as no bath or shower from what I have read). The kitchen is transient as well… at this stage it seems very ancillary to me and an argument could be made as that.

its not rented, it’s a person directly connected to the family and continuing to use the facilities in the main house.

as I said I’m not being snarky I just haven’t done that but if planning for a while and happy to hear!

There’s no argument to be made for It to be used to sleep in.
It doesn’t have approval for that
It doesn’t have building regs for that or a kitchen etc
It doesn’t have change of use.

All these must be investigated and secured as advised and appropriate.