newhome Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Friends of mine have viewed a property (in England) that they are interested in buying. The listing from the estate agent mentions a detached garage but when they viewed the house the garage has been converted into an annex for the owners' parents. It has a bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen / laundry. They asked about it and were told that it has been done under permitted development and that the conversion was done before they bought the property. My friends have tracked down the estate agent listing when the current owners bought the property in 2012 and the conversion had indeed been made then as the listing mentions it but at that point it was only a half conversion at the back of the garage with a bedroom and a bathroom. Now the whole garage has been converted and the other half is now a kitchen/laundry and living room. They don't appear to have got either planning permission or building control sign off. My friends are still interested in the house but I thought that if a completely separate annex had been built not only did it need PP but that it would mean that separate council tax was due too? Can they avoid this if they immediately remove the kitchen? They would like to retain the laundry facilities if possible so that they have somewhere to wash their dog beds but have no wish to actually use the annex accommodation at this point. There is a other brick built building in the garden that is used as a summerhouse that appears to have no permission either. Sounds like a minefield to me TBH especially as they would like to extend the main house at some point anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliMcLeod Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) I suspect the seller/estate agent know that the conversion has not gone through building control, hence it being advertised as a garage, not an annex. I can't see why council tax should be charged on something that is not legally a separate property, but I'd be urging your friends to ask the council about that before proceeding. Edited January 17, 2019 by AliMcLeod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Yes I think the estate agent knows that it hasn’t gone through building control but more worrying is fact that it doesn’t have PP. I’m sure a fully self contained annex is subject to council tax but that this is reduced if occupied by a dependent. After all you could rent it as a separate residence. The person living there would need to pay the council tax. They are going to ring the council for advice without giving away the property details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikerchris Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I was only wondering, but can't you get insurance to protect you from works carried out without PP or BR's? I know you can get it for Build over Sewage works that occurs before you buy a place, may be the same applies with your friends issue. It's just IMO, but the chances of the local Council asking for extra tax, is unlikely I would have thought. That's a lot of work for the council to do for little return. It's a grey area turning garage to accommodation, from what I've experienced, so long as you make it clear that it's ancillary to the main dwelling, it seems to be OK. One mention of wanting to make it an independent dwelling is a completely different matter though. About the summerhouse, so long as it's within certain height restrictions and a certain distance from the boundary, it's generally PD. Only on site of Listed buildings, AONB's or other sensitive areas does it become a problem. Or as one friend found out, if your neighbour is jealous and dob's you into the council (that was on the land of a listed building). Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 4 minutes ago, bikerchris said: I was only wondering, but can't you get insurance to protect you from works carried out without PP or BR's? I know you can for building regs but not sure that works for PP, especially when you know that it doesn’t have the right PP and the work was done relatively recently. Anyway, they went for a second viewing but have got cold feet due to Brexit so they are staying in their rented bliss until Brexit concludes one way or the other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikerchris Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 11 minutes ago, newhome said: I know you can for building regs but not sure that works for PP, especially when you know that it doesn’t have the right PP and the work was done relatively recently. Anyway, they went for a second viewing but have got cold feet due to Brexit so they are staying in their rented bliss until Brexit concludes one way or the other. It's a funny one - I bought a property recently (the first I'm actually living in) and it had items that needed PP but didn't have it - the Solicitors just pointed it out, that's all they really do. Legals don't have time or inclination to go taddle on building owners to the Council - life here would be very different if they did! That's fair enough, shame about Brexit mucking up their plans ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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