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.

Did you discuss your intentions with your solicitor and ask them to check the status of the build and the rights as an "annexe"?

Has it got permission to have kitchen and bathroom conversion?

Would depend on what planning was agreed I would think.

Bit of a devil's advocate, but neighbour who reported imho is not deserving being called names, nor does it mran that OP eill have tough timr in there.
Renting substandard accommodation to people illegally such as shed and garage needs reporting. It's disgraceful and dangerous. They thought it's that. Could they bave talk to OP? Yes. Maybe they didn't eant to risk potential outburst by what they thought was dodgy "landlord".

Personally I wouldn't worry about it and ignore the keyboard planning officers on here.

Contact the council for advice. They should give free advice and if not, try something like https://www.planningaid.co.uk/.

Every circumstance is different so best to get the proper advice for your situation. Good luck.

You keep saying it had planning permission in 2012 OP BUT you are not answering the question as to planning to be used as what???

I have stables with kitchen and loo which have planning, but not for humans to live in (although they are rather lovely!)

You could very easily be in breach if not for living accommodation especially as a separate building. You do need to follow up with the planning department before you do more work.

In the meantime, tell your neighbour to inform whoever complained to fuck right off.

I wouldn’t worry. It’s a room your mum chooses to use as a bedroom and has an en-suite toilet. What she chooses to store in her bedroom ( fridge, freezer, wardrobe, sofa etc) is her concern. Tell the council if they appear you are all trying out this living arrangement to check it works before you discuss pp needed and convert it fully.

If there are any restrictions it would have been in a covenant on the property and your conveyancer should gave pointed this out to you. And you can get covenants lifted, I’ve done it and it was surprisingly easy.

People are correct - the important question is what was the 2012 planning permission actually for? It will have approved the building for a specific use. There are likely to be conditions on that PP restricting that use. If you are not using it for that purpose, then you could well be in breach.
If the building is to be used as an independent residence PP will definitely be required.
The original building may not also be correctly built for residential use in terms of Building Regs.

The issue might be that you have put in a “temporary” kitchen, so this might be seen as her not sharing your home but living in the space independently.

Your best bet is to contact your council planning department and see what they say. You might end up having to pay council tax, but that is still a lot cheaper than her living in her own property, but it will shut down the gossip, you could also ask about how to apply for planning permission to make the space better for her, ie a proper kitchen and a shower room.. What about electricity, does she have a separate meter to the rest of the property, which might well be the case if the previous owners used it as a premises for business.

I’d check with your solicitor what you are allowed to do to be certain. Lots of misinformation on this thread.

The best thing to do is ring the Council Planning Dept or send them an email asking exactly what is ok with existing annexe.

OP, we have exactly this set-up. (DM lives in a self-contained annex that was an outbuilding when we purchased our house).

It is vital that you understand what planning permission was granted in relation to the converted garage. The word "annex" as used by EA's is not a legal term of art. If the planning does not allow use as residential accommodation, then the council will likely act to prevent it being used as such. If you discussed your plans with your conveyancing solicitor, then you would have been advised about this.

Before DM moved in, we applied for PP to convert into a self-contained annex and all of the neighbours were notified. (None objected - quite the opposite as it was an eyesore!) But local planning rules require that an additional dwelling in a street goes through the approval process so that any local concerns can be heard. Ultimately you will have to pay council tax on both properties as well.

@LardyDee so yes it was planning permission for business use and not residential, however because we moved mum in without making changes and leaving it as it is, we just assumed we wouldn't need to notify the council until we start to turn it into a self contained annexe with a kitchen and bathroom. Our solicitor and mortgage lender knew about our mum moving into the annexe and was never a problem, we were told to just notify the council once we are ready to start making internal changes to the annexe.

OP - it might be best to ask Mumsnet to move this thread to Property/DIY or Legal. You’re more likely to get answers from people with actual knowledge and experience.

Your neighbour sounds like an interfering finger-wagger - most villages have one 🙄 but I’m sorry you’ve run into yours so soon after moving!

Is there an entrance to the annexe from your house as in an internal door? If so I can't see what you have done that could be construed as wrong, you can use your property as you see fit.

@Motherof1and2dogs we had similar, bought house with separate annexe that had planning to be a ‘gym, changing rooms and sauna’ but that the previous owners had put a living space, bedroom and bathroom in.
We had to get planning permission to convert it into an annexe for my parents as it wasn’t classed as residential under the previous permission. They did move in before it went through but we had a spare room for them in the main house so if anyone had asked we could easily claim they were living in our house and storing their stuff in the ‘gym’.
Cost us £800 but went through quickly as my parents are dependent relatives. This also means that even though the building is registered for council tax, it’s at a 0 rate. We do have caveats on our planning that the annexe cannot be rented out on the open market as a separate dwelling. We’ve also promised our neighbours we won’t use it as an airbnb.
Super snide of your neighbour but maybe it’s the rental aspect he’s worried about? Once we explained my folks were moving in ours were fine (and have my folks over for coffee regularly!)

In that case, yes you are in breach of the PP.
You will need to apply for a change of use for your mum to be able to live in the office.

I’d go to the door of the neighbour who complained and tell them to mind their own bloody business.

I get the impression that the person who's reported you to the council knows that the original planning permission was only granted for a garage conversion into an office space. NOT a residential space. Now they're seeing your dm living there, obviously not using it as an office, they've complained.

I will echo many other PP are asking ........what was the original planning permission granting?? An office or residential building??

‘We’re reporting you to the council.’
‘ok. Let me know how it goes.’

From what you describe it’s fine. If it’s not fine you’ll be told what to do to make it fine. Try not to stress out.

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.

Cross posted. So yes you are using it without permission.

The nosy busybodies helped a vulnerable woman in our village in the early hours of Sunday morning. I heard strange noises - couldn't quite make out if it was someone calling for help, people back from the pub or a child, and whether there was someone with them.

I couldn't let it rest so went to have a look and was thankful to find a small group of other nosy busybodies who had called emergency services and the woman's good friend.

If anyone from the council queries it, then you could always just say that your mum is staying with you for a while as a guest in your home, and using the annexe as a temporary bedroom.

This. /

As for the neighbour, some people are just nosy and nasty with it...arsehole.