Is it a good or a bad idea to lose a garage but gain a granny flat?

[MirandaGoshawk]

Well, child flat...

We are selling our house & hoping to buy a house with a detached brick-built garage with a high ceiling. The present owner keeps his pride & joy motor in there.

DS is nearly 21, lives at home and for 3 years has worked for a building company, doing high-end barn conversions & extensions. He wants to convert the garage, put in woodburner, mezzanine floor, kitchenette & shower room. So although we would gain an annexe we would lose parking for the pride & joy. Good idea or no, wrt to future selling? We would have a big shed for lawnmower & other crapola.

This is the trend though - multigenerational living. I think as long as there is adequate on street space to park 2 or 3 cars then it wouldn't deter future buyers.

We have a detached double barn style garage and car port with flat over all three. Youngest DD is in there when she is home from university but it would also be ideal for an au pair or even a granny who can get the stairs! Could you extend the garage and use the floor space above a double garage for the flat? Best of both worlds!!!!

IMO garages are too small for cars these days. I know my and that of my friends is used for storage of crap not cars.

And I think there can be issues with council tax if the property has two kitchens. I'm sure i read about it on MN. Something to research I suppose.

There are 2 separate issues - someone in occupation (which is easy to get around, they sign a document saying they're not staying / have no right to say) and then it being a separate annexe / having 2 kitchens which some lenders won't lend on. Means you (or future buyers) might be limited with mortgage options. But I tthink that if you can get funding it is a great idea. Lots of families need granny flats / teenager accommodation / au pair room etc. It is 10 times more useful than a garage.

We looked at houses with proper annexes like this but would def need to pay increased (although not quite double) council tax due to fixed kitchen facilities which put us off as we didn't want it for permanent use, just for overseas family who stay for a month at a time. Would limit your market to those who could afford the extra tax or who had a family member who would be living there and paying for it. Perhaps plan more of a temp kitchen which can be easily removed, microwave, or other small plug cooker, kettle, toaster. Not sure if you can get away with kitchen type sink.

Worth looking into but would speak to the council first.

OK, some good points here, thanks. It's a separate building so not possible to extend above it & keep the garage part, I don't think .

I rang the council & asked about permission. They kept me on hold for a Very Long Time before coming back with a Yes, but only for a person who is part of the household, not for renting out/holiday let. So not an issue about council tax. But I hadn't thought of the mortgage/limiting market problem, so thank you all.

Would be worth phoning the council tax department to confirm before you get too far down the line. Planning wouldn't be interested in tax implications. We were advised that council tax would be an issue if there was a permanent kitchenette including cooking and sink (may have been other criteria too) because then it would be considered a self contained unit, even if due to planning or layout it could only be used for a family member and not rented out. We were alerted to the issue by a thread on here where people had been caught out when creating spaces for parents. Might differ between councils.

I still think it has great potential, lots of people looking for flexible space which can be used for offices & extra guests, just be careful about making it too self contained.

I think you have been given incorrect advice by the Council and no they don't differ, it is legislation (I used to work in council tax) so every council bills properties the same way.

Any part of a property that could be sold off as a separate unit is liable for council tax. This also applies to granny annexes but they are given an exemption if the person is a member of the family and over 65 and dependent on your care, you live in the main house and can prove that this is true. In other words, it has its own council tax bill but this is zeroed out with an exemption for the above.

If you have a granny annexe that you just let relatives/friends stay in as extra bedroom space then I am sorry but it will be liable to council tax.

The VOA (valuation office) are responsible for banding properties, the council produce the bill. here is the info from VOA.

It couldn't be sold off as a separate unit. Layout of the drive/garden prevents that. But thank you anyway.

I see from your link that they assume that all annexes could be sold off separately. So worst case scenario - DS pays his own council tax

Yes you are correct, you could have the driveway altered or share a drive to both properties, that is the way the VOA see it.

Having said that we converted an integrated double garage into a play room but have cunningly made it so that in future either ourselves or a potential buyer would easily be able to add a kitchen and an en-suite to it to make it self contained.

Multi generational living is becoming more popular.