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.

This thread is utterly bonkers! The scaremongering is crazy. A mother and daughter are using ancillary accommodation as ancillary accommodation. Planning consent for ancillary accommodation has been granted. If the council choose to make a fuss about this then I despair. There is a massive housing crisis and they would actually care about this?? Really?? OP is hardly subletting a garden shed to half a dozen illegal immigrants!!

OP, tell anyone who comes asking that your mother lives with you. That’s all they need to know and very hard to prove otherwise. Ask a local architect or planning consultant for advice when you want to add the kitchen. Please don’t worry about the ridiculous scare stories that glass half empty people want to feed you. Good luck, it will all work out.

This we are converting our garage into a utility and teenager lounge - as long as it is not self contained it is fine. Self contained means no kitchen or no bathroom - you can have one but not the other. Take the fridge freezer out and she comes in the main house until after it blows over - it’s just a summer house.

It’s not self contained so you can say it’s accommodation ancillary to the main dwelling. It’s not a separate dwelling in its own right so you don’t need permission

OP is already breaking planning rules. Just as well she's not taking a penny off her mother as the accomodation is substandard in housing law.

Have you read any part of this thread beyond the opening post?

Yes I have but I haven’t managed to go through the 505 comments in detail yet

@Maboscelar agree with other poster. You sound very nosey and bothered

It’s not ancillary accommodation. According to the OP the building has planning permission as a garage and storeroom only. Planning consent for change of use has not ever been applied for, let alone granted. I genuinely hope for the family’s sake that it will be permitted and any works needed to meet residential building standards are affordable. But at present the use of the building as a permanent home is a breach of planning. In a way it’s a good thing that the neighbour has complained now rather than after a new bathroom and kitchen have been installed as they could be ordered to be ripped out if change of use is refused or the building needs
eg new electrics or insulation throughout.

@AncientAndModern1 OP states “The planning permission states "the garage and store should only be used for those purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling house as such, and not for any commercial or business purposes" It’s not being used for commercial or business purposes. OP’s mum lives in the family home and uses the garage as her own space (incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling house). If they want to turn it into a proper annexe they can seek permission to do so, as they planned to do from the outset. They haven’t done anything wrong and poor OP has been berated by some of the posters!

What do people imagine is the difference in standards between a room converted for use as an office — with flooring, heating, windows etc, to say nothing of plumbing — and use as a bedroom?

The building had planning permission in 2012. The OP did not say that the planning permission was for a garage or shed, merely that the building, because it was used as an office, was more like a ‘converted garage or shed’.

If it’s been in place since 2012 it is past the point at which the LA would intervene over planning or building regs infraction.

‘Change of use’ planning applications are more to do with the range and mix of types of building (family houses, HMOs, businesses, care homes, etc) that a Council has agreed in its plan. They are much less to do with assuming that something originally conceived as an office is substandard for any other use.

And WE DON’T KNOW the details of the planning permission, what the building actually looks like, or any other details beyond the necessarily very sketchy ones that the OP has shared. There have been multiple people with different types of expertise who have seen these things, and did not raise concerns about the OP’s plans. The number of people on here who think they know better than a group of professionals who have actually seen the building and paperwork in question!

You are completey wrong. From what the OP has said there isn't any doubt the annex does not have permission for this use.

As for all the other professionals who you think assured her it could be used in the way she is using it I very much doubt they were told this is what she would do.

Ever heard of Dunning Kruger? There is plenty of room for doubt. We know virtually nothing about this situation.

I would find out what would require it to be counted as a separate dwelling and so just under that!! So if having a bath shower installed would mean having to pay council tax then I’d be crafty and just add an extra shower to your house that’s accessible from outside for your mum to use…. My parents recently had a utilitY room installed that has a double shower which can be accessed from the lounge but also has a door into the garden… or could the outside be converted that it has everything except a bed for example… so she can have her own piece out there during her waking hours but not sleep out there?
Book an appointment with your local CAB service and find out what you can and can’t get away with. I’m sure the fact she’s not paying you any rent will go in your favour…
mourn neighbours son lived in their shed for years… ambulance came out to it / police etc and no one ever said anything!

No, there is no room for doubt. The glorified garden shed does not have planning consent to be used as permanent residential accommodation.

Book an appointment with your local CAB service and find out what you can and can’t get away with.

What a colossal waste and abuse of CAB time.

Charming OP!
The truth hurts . Hopefully you’ll be more honest in future

I’ve wasted enough time on this but the OP has clearly stated in previous posts that the building does not have residential pp but only as a ‘garage and storeroom’. Putting a permanent bedroom in it is not permitted and it is unlikely the building, even if cosy and with a nice floor, meets building regs (insulation/ventilation/fire safety) for a residential building. That’s likely fixable but in the meantime planning may insist the arrangement stops. https://newgardenroomcompany.com/do-i-need-planning-permission-to-sleep-in-a-garden-room/

We know these facts though:

1. The specific wording of the planning permission that was granted, "the garage and store should only be used for those purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling house as such, and not for any commercial or business purposes". It seems OP was mistaken in her belief that the garage had planning permission to be converted into an office with a loo for business use.
2. The garage is detached and separate from the house. Planning permission isn’t required to convert an attached garage if the accommodation is NOT self contained but it usually is if the garage is separate. Otherwise, it would be an easy loophole to build a second house on a plot, just get permission to build a garage in your garden and convert it to a house…
3. OP will need planning permission to convert the garage into a self contained annexe. There is no guarantee that she will get it. The “trouble” that she (and her DM) is in is that she may have made a very expensive mistake if she doesn’t get planning permission when she is relying on needing it to be able to accommodate her DM. She was very foolish not to apply for planning permission before she bought the house.
4. Her DM is now in a very precarious position having gifted the money from the sale of her mobile home to OP. She has no right to live there or get her money back eg if OP gets divorced or they fall out or the house is repossessed. I hope she had independent legal advice before agreeing to this, although I suspect not.

You need to apply for a change of use if it's an office that will be used for accommodation ( especially as it's a separate building) and you may not get it, depends on your area and if it would meet building regs etc. It would have been better to check with your local planning dept before you went ahead.

I was on planning committee a few years ago, so I'm a little rusty, but I think the issue with the council will be if she is sleeping in it, as it won't have been given permission/checked as being safe for habitation. But this shouldn't be a problem doing it retrospectively, I would contact your council for advice.

Did you not look into it/contact the council before you moved?

Planning permission is not just regarding the physical aspect of a building, it also concerns the USE of a building (or land). The fact is, whether it has a bathroom or not, your mother is living in it. You need permission for that.

From what OP says in response to other posters it seems she may not have told her solicitor /mortgage lender that her intention was to use the office as living accommodation for her mother.