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.

Not true. They will also be interested in whether it has planning permission. We had planning permission for a (separate) garage conversion to a granny annexe and someone reported us for someone living in it - we weren't allowed a kitchen (which we didn't have) and there was a time limit. There was a lot of faffing about but council realised they had made a mistake and so we got full permission with kitchen.

OP didn't your solicitor check the status of the annexe before purchase. Estate agents often advertise things which don't have planning permission (like garage conversions) or building regs sign off (like attic conversions). You need legal (planning) advice not opinions of random people on mumsnet.

Technically she lives on your property. Your annexe is part of your property. You or any member of your family can live in it legally unless there is a covenant on the title deeds to say No Mattresses in the garage. Which is unlikely. Your mother is doing nothing different to potting plants in a greenhouse in your garden.Which is quite legal. The problems arise when You install A functioning Kitchen . This then becomes a separate dwelling and The council will be interested and probably will want Fire regulations inspection and send you a Bill for council Tax.of course they need theoney to pay for funding HOTELS for people with luxury accommodation not garage space.

Setting aside your crowbarred in final point, you are simply wrong in what you say here. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t comment. If you want to start a thread about immigration, do that separately.

I’m a planning enforcement officer so I see this weekly in my borough. As you share a relationship with the person in the annexe it is seen at “ancillary” and within permitted development. You should probably submit a lawful development certificate to prove the lawfulness and confirm to neighbours all is fine. You can search up similar cases on your planning portal under “granny annexe” to get a feel for what your councils view is on this

If a teen son/daughter was sleeping in the outside room would anyone query it? The building had permission and whether it is used as an office or a bedroom shouldn't make any difference to the authorities since it already has a wc. Your mum is part of your family - worry not. Good to seek council advice meantime on what happens when you eventually install a kitchen and bathroom.

Not really an expert on this in any way but if it has a bedroom and toilet does it count as habitable and therefore subject to more stringent building regulations than an outbuilding? Does it adhere to these regulations / would the council refer it on to building control.

Maybe it's moot if it was built to the same regs for business use?

If it was used for a business they may have got planning permission for the toilet to be added on the grounds that it wouldn't be used as an extra dwelling but for business use only.

thats not what she asked. She is using a ex office room as a bedroom, that’s all. It will be attached to the house, just like all the other bedrooms.

It"s not attached

Are you any further forward @Motherof1and2dogs?

Not yet RTFT.
Nb, I don't know about council tax charging as that is a separate matter.
You need to check the pp on the 'annex' to check for any conditions/restrictions. This should have been done by your solicitor and pointed out to you but check now.
If your mum is using it as an extension of the main house (as she appears to be, ie still using the residential facilities of the main house) then there should be no problem atm. It is still covered by the single residential use (this would obviously depend on any conditions/restrictions on the pp, but I'm assuming for now there is none)
If you want to make it fully self contained then you would need specific pp. Your best bet would be to apply for it to be connected to the main house, ie only resided in by a member of the family (child/parent etc) this would stop out being rented out to anyone now or in the future (unless a change to the pp was applied for and granted).
If you get this type of restricted permission, when/if you sell make sure you add this detail on. We almost bought a house with an annex. The vendor proudly told us he'd previously rented out the annex. A quick check of the pp online told me that he was in breach of the condition. The estate agent didn't know and asked me to send them the pp! (As an aside, there were lots of things we informed the agent of that they didn't know. The vendor was completely clueless. Always check details!)

@Maboscelar

Yeah, they are one family now. This was the case for a house in our street. When we moved here they had a large outbuilding in the garden which a family member slept in but used the house for the bathroom.

Some years later it's now a separate dwelling with completely unrelated pressure living in it, which is a totally different thing.

And no one could complain or object because the use had been legitimised by the faculty member usage previously.

If I were OP's neighbour I would report it and object as well. It was an office, not a separate living space for a separate household.

Yes you can object, a change of use has taken place. It was originally used as part of the main residential use but is now two residences. If it's within 4 years you can report to the council. Of course it will need evidence of WHEN the change took place, that can be tricky and, unfortunately, can easily be faked by the owners. But it doesn't change the fact that it was not legitimised by the previous family use.

Why doesn't Mumsnet have an edit function!!

1. No idea what happened with the italics appearing on my first post!
2. Quote went wrong on my second post!!

Argh!!

It does! Click on the 3 dots to the right of your name and time of posting and you’ll see it there. You only have 5 minutes to edit it though.

What nasty neighbours. I'd ask them to check, (is it true you've contacted the council about our living arrangements?). Ask what the problem is exactly because you'd like to be on good terms with all your new neighbours. Don't divulge your plans just say okay thanks.
Maybe check that your Mum doesn't have TV or radio on loud all night etc. Or opening and closing the doors often and noisily.
Contact your Solicitor as they must have known your intentions for the property. Check the planning permission for the annexe, should have been part of your buying pack, if not you can download from local council portal.
But as far as the council - do nothing, you bought the house as advertised with an annexe, they are snowed under and you've done nothing wrong. At worst they may insist your Mum sleeps in the main house until the renovations can be done. Maybe use the annexe as a living room instead.
The neighbour who told you, why did they do that I wonder?

RawBloomers. It is none of the neighbour's business if the use has changed and whether the new owners have permission. Some people are just so self entitled.

Not true.
The outbuilding is completely detached and not joined to the house at all.

Beds in sheds are a problem, people. You are just fine with it because you don't have next to your fence

The council will decide whether it is a separate dwelling, and therefore whether council tax should be paid.

Note 6 explains how they'll establish this, and also helpfully gives legal precedents.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/council-tax-manual/council-tax-practice-notes#PN6

From a "fit for habitation" perspective, you aren't renting so this doesn't strictly apply, but here's what is the definition and guidelines.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-fitness-for-human-habitation-act-2018/guide-for-tenants-homes-fitness-for-human-habitation-act-2018

Worst case, it sounds like you may be asked to pay council tax because it is being used as a separate dwelling.

Hope this helps. Lots of info in the links to help you determine/discuss with the council.

The Homes Act relates to tenants of rented properties and Landlords
OP and her mum are neither.

OPs issue lies with
planning
change of use and
building regs

THIS - this is correct, at the moment it's effectively just an extra bedroom/room of your house and you can do whatever in it, because it cannot be considered a separate dwelling (due to no kitchen or bathroom). When those are installed you'll be creating a separate standalone dwelling, requiring permission and being liable for council tax.
We had our garage converted in 2021 and decided no kitchen to avoid council tax and planning permission. It was subject to building regulations, which was just checking it was fire safe for someone to sleep there. You might want to check how safe it is for your mum particularly for fire, as I suspect the offices might not have required such stringent controls as it wasn't sleeping accomodation. However, that's for you and your mum to do for your own benefit. Even if the council are interested, they're horrendously busy and likely won't care or it'll go on a waiting list for at least a year....

Except it isn't a separate dwelling because her mum can't wash or cook properly in it - it's not considered a separate dwelling until there's a proper bathroom/shower room and a kitchen

@Voneska
Theres no permission for it to be used as residential
It doesn’t have the necessary change of use as part of planning nor does it have building regs approval.

If you RTFT you’ll see many detailed explanations

OPs mum cannot sleep there

An a planning officer, yes she can

No you can’t.
It doesn’t have planning
It doesn’t have building regs

OPs mum wants to use it as a bedroom. It cannot be a bedroom.