Planning permission annex

[insomniac1]

Hi everyone

We are buying a house which has a one bedroom detached annex. The current owners converted the garage.

We have just been told by our solicitor that they only had permission for a 1 bedroom annexe with a bathroom - not a kitchen. We can clearly see their proposed plans which did not include a kitchen. They clearly just built the kitchen anyway. When we made the offer we assumed they had relevant planning permission in place. The reason why it was important to us was we had plans to move my elderly parents into it.

What are our options? WWYD? Thank you so much!!

I’m guessing you also have full planning permission…

I know 3 lots of friends/neighbours who were affected:

On our road- retrospective planning refused- went to a judicial review ? and was allowed but had to pay separate tax and also had covenants that stopped it being sold without the main dwelling and also could be let on less than a 3 month lease. I believe it cost a lot of money.

Friends buying one- ended up taking months as 2 properties had to be created with 2 mortgages. It was a sort of 1 bed cottage thing attached to the house which had probably been a garage or stable. They now let it out as an air bnb

Friends had 1 at their 1960s house with granny in it. In all the local papers as the council took action- they argued it had been there for 30 years. Allowed to keep it but had to pay council tax, water etc and electricity and gas sub meters

Yes full planning permission. It is not however a building that can be sold as a 'bedroom' even though it has a space that could be used as one. It is a gym and garden room for us. A different planning permission is required for a bedroom.

When was the building work done OP? From memory, there’s a time limit on how long action can be taken eg/ordering the destruction.

We bought a house with an annexe last year and it didn’t have the necessary permissions. It’s fine. We built an extension and got planning permission and it went through fine, no one screamed about the previous oversight.

Get an indemnity policy - as a PP has said, do not approach the council now as it will invalidate it!! - as long as it’s just family living there no one will care. Plus action might be time barred anyway.

Our architect said that councils only seek to take action where the building work is dangerous or causing an issue. Yours doesn’t sound like either of those - and that’s assuming they’re not out of time to take action anyway!

Did the conversion actually have PP or just Building Regs?

Such a conversion wouldn't normally need PP if the annexe was to be used as part of the main accommodation rather than being rented out as a separate unit. In planning terms, having cooking facilities doesn't really make much difference.

If PP was obtained, you need to see the decision notice and check what conditions were imposed. Unless it specifically states there shall be no kitchen, I don't think there is much of an issue in planning terms. I suspect it will just say no separate use allowed.

Obviously there may be issues under building regs if the kitchen wasn't approved, and I have no idea about Council tax.