Annexe to holiday let - planning needed?

[ConsideringAnything]

I am currently purchasing a house in the middle of an AONB. It comes with a 2 bedroom separate annexe, previously used as the home of an elderly mother.

A friend has suggested I should holiday/air bnb it. Space wise, it's possible for me to spruce it up, set aside parking & garden space, and make completely stand alone - the extra income would be helpful (if I'm willing to do the hard work in running it!)

But I can't work out if I need planning to let it? I've tried googling & end up more confused than when I start! I figure it would be no different than if I were to let a room in my house, but wanted to be certain

Anyone have experience of this?

For clarity, the main residence will be my actual home, where I live and work, not a 2nd home

There may be restrictions on holiday lets in the AONB.

We have holiday lets and are in AONB and greenbelt. We had to get change of use planning permission in order for them to be recognised holiday lets. However, they aren't attached to the main house. I think if you just Airbnb'd you'd be fine (we also have our own website) but might be worth checking with your local council.

Generally annexes can only be used for accommodation ancillary to the residential use of the main house, so eg elderly relative, it friends staying the weekend but probably eating with you etc.
If they are being rented out then a change of use would be required.
If the annexe itself required planning permission there is probably a condition on the permission restring its use to ancillary only. You would therefore require PP to relax that condition.

I had an annexe like that but 3 beds I had planning permission as a holiday let. I’ve given up letting it out now as it’s become really onerous (Scotland). I would say that once you are on the radar it can’t go back to being an “annexe” and was assessed for its own separate residential council tax bill. This is fine as I’ve got planning permission to divide the property into two and the annexe will be sold. Two plots each with a house is worth more than one plot with two houses.

Was in our deeds that we specifically couldn't charge for use of our annex. We'd have had to apply for change of use and our CF neighbours would have objected

I can’t advise on planning, but I can tell you that the moment your local council catch wind of you letting it out, they will issue you with a separate council tax bill for it, probably band A.

Friends of ours fought their Lc and had it classified as their 5th bedroom because everything in there could be removed (mini oven, not full etc).

It also cost so much to heat this winter that they couldn’t turn a profit on their £75 per night fee.

Then she told me the bottom of the market had dropped out and wowcher were offering three nights abroad for the same amount.

So, ever cynical, I checked her area around Charles’s coronation with the bank holiday, and she was right. There were a ton of properties still free at a cost I would consider more than reasonable.

Also on the outskirts of an AONB, near a thriving market town in N Yorks.

Don’t rely on air B and B anymore. It’s extremely volatile.

At this stage the extra building feels more like a liability than an asset, you still have to heat and maintain it in winter to stop it falling down. She had bookings for just three nights in April.

Are you requiring a mortgage?
If so you may need 2- 1 residential and 1 commercial if you want to split it and rent it out.

Thank you every, that's really helpful.

This is a separate annexe, so quite a way from the house. How do I find out what the permissions of use are? Would land registry show me that?

If you contact the planning office they can tell you what permissions are attached to the outbuilding if any. Sometimes people just cheerfully convert outbuildings. I have a former stable that’s now a perfectly nice home office. It has a bathroom / kitchenette no hob as apparently makes it residential. Not that anyone is coming to check.

Oh yes forgot as @KievLoverTwo says re council tax ours was exempt as my dependent father had lived in it and then as it was not allowed to be let separately and used the same utilities - if we had let it out it was Band A council tax as well.

Yes, my friends run off the same utilities. Suspect that is pretty key to winning the council tax argument.

I honestly think the way is to phone the planning office. Friend of mine has put more into an annexe than the permission allowed but she is taking the line , who is going to check , but that is her problem if they do. Renting it as Air B&B - personally I would not do unless I had the relevant permissions.

My friends council checked air b and b. That's how they discovered they had an oven in there and tried to charge them C Tax.

(Mini oven, they won the case)

I imagine you could never put stuff like washing machine or large FF in one because the council can then argue you would not be able to move them yourself in an emergency.