Buying a house with an annex that we don't want to use as an annex - council tax

[thiswaypleasethankyou]

Hi all,

We are looking at a house that has an annex - it's a bungalow, and the annex has its own front door and is also accessible from the main part of the house via a door in the hallway. The annex has its own kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom. We have no intention of using it as an annex, and eventually would be looking to incorporate the rooms into the main footprint of the house (along with knocking together some of the other rooms in the main part of the house as there are lots of small rooms).

Estate agent says only one lot of council tax is chargeable, and that would stay the same as long as we didn't use the annex as an annex i.e. if there us just us living there and we don't rent it out. But I have read that as it has its own entrance, and kitchen, that definitely means council tax x 2.

Does anyone have any experience of this please?

I agree. I wouldn't touch it with bargepole.

My friend has an annex which is completely separate and has a kitchen etc but nobody lives in it. The council tried to charge her council tax on it but she got her solicitor to write and challenge that and they backed down. However, they did say if it was to be rented out council tax would become payable and they send a man with a clipboard EVERY six months to check! It really annoys her but since they don't rent it out he just goes away again. So the answer is "it depends". Once you incorporate it into your house it definitely will only be 1 lot of council tax.

Do not do this. If they don't know, don't be the ones to tell them!

only in part since the council are not the ones who decide if a separate banding applies, that is a VOA decision

You don't need to give them the address just ask the generic question. Say you have viewed a house and just wondered how it would work with CT.

My friend tried to buy a house with an annexe and her mortgage provider HSBC wouldn't lend on it.

Convert it into offices?

Our annex has a kitchen but not stated as 'bedrooms', just an outbuilding/garden room. We don't pay additional CT because it can't be added as a dwelling bedroom but we do pay the highest band of CT.

I take it you have limited knowledge of how things work?
By converting part of a residential property into "offices" one runs the potential risk of permanently changing the status of part of the property from residential to business use.

Whilst it is unlikely that it would result in needing to pay for National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR - aka business rates) instead of council tax as there is a substantial tax free threshold before NNDR becomes liable. Nonetheless, it would certainly alter the Capital Gains Tax exemption applicable to residential use property only. Therefore when the property was later sold, one would end up paying capital gains tax on any gain apportioned to that part of the building.

Yes I do know that wrong answers get more interaction from people desperate to prove they know more about it than you. Congrats on being extra rude about it though!

We built an annexe with its own kitchen and front door but only pay one lot of council tax. It is partly part of the older house, and partly an extension. The electrics, water, heating, drainage etc are all part of the main house systems and there is a connecting door into the main house.

Our council never suggested two CT bills and our mortgage provider also never blinked.

I think you should ring your LA though and ask what generic rules apply- you don’t have to give them a specific address?

There is a huge amount on inconsistency both between and within councils on this.
We own a house with a 2 bed annex built with planning permission and building regs and sold twice since it was built. Only 1 council tax bill. Our annex has a full kitchen.
When looking we considered another property one bed annex with kitchenette ( sink, fridge and microwave) not sold since annex built 2 council tax bills.
These properties were only 3 miles apart in same LA.

didums, yes social media is full of people desperate to suggest the first thing that comes to mind even when they know nothing about the subject

If you have a look at the original planning permission it will say if it's liable for council tax currently.

When I was looking at houses with annexes I read that if you remove the kitchen then it can't be used as an independent dwelling so not liable for council tax.

Yes and sometimes you’re just so relieved you don’t have the misfortune to experience those special cases in real life. 😂😂😮‍💨