OT: Granny Annexe / Holiday Let

[mark]

An old barn joined to the house was converted into accomodation about 4 years ago. It has an upstairs bedroom a bathroom and a living room, plus one more room. It doesn't have a kitchen. It is in use, now and again, for guests.

I'm investigating what is required into turning this into a holiday let and its viability. I pretty much know what I have to do building-wise but it's all the other stuff that I need to clarify and I'm not keen at this stage to ask 'planning' or the council tax bods.

I've been told that a granny annexe is easier to get by the planners but that this definition falls short of a standalone holiday let. What defines a granny annexe?

Presumably council tax would be payable and if so would this be on the Business tariff ? Would council tax on the main house drop a band? What fire regs if any would I be required to conform to. Insurance implications?

A lot of questions and I'm hoping someone out there can throw me a few pointers.

mark

[The Natural Philosopher]

I do know that years after I stopped doing it, on the grounds it was more hassle than it was worth, a gent from the council turned up and demanded to know why I was letting out an annex without planning permission.

I told him that I hadn't for 5 years, and he went away.

Granny flats on which no rent are charged are not a change of use.

IIRC lodgers, i.e. those not sel contained, are also free of planning restrictions.

Nor is renting a complete house.

Holiday accom of self contained flavour is a tad more grey. Ask the council.

If there are special safety regulations BCO will know them.

[Jim]

When the conversion was done were building control notified?

[Tim Streater]

But if it's separately habitable e.g. own equipped kitchen & bathroom, then there's a separate council tax. On the other hand, if the "main" house then goes down from e.g. 7 bedrooms to 4, say, then you would apply to have the tax on *that* one reduced.

[mark]

Yes, it was all done under planning/building control.

mark

[mark]

There's something about whether a place has a cooker or not that is significant. I think I read it here yonks ago but can't remember what the upshot was.

mark

[tim....]

Did council tax on the main house go up a band when the barn was converted?

tim

[Dave Liquorice]

Having an aged relative living in it? B-) Donno really.

I think that depends on if you make the property available as a let all year or only for, say, 9 months. You "using it privately" for the other three months.

Have this bit of string... That would depend on the affect making the annex a separately council taxed building would have on the value of the main building at 1st April 1991 prices (assuming it's in England).

Definitely implications on both over and above that required for a private residence. A let will almost certainly have to have smoke alarms, fire blanket/extinguisher in the kitchen and proper secondary means of escape etc. Your loacl fire service should be able to advise and don't forget your local tourist information service, they are normally quite good at giving information and help about what is required to run a holiday let.

No pets.

[Owain]

Where the occupant of the annexe has some connection to and shares living facilities with the main house, eg cooking/eating. They have to effectively be part of the same household.

As soon as you create a property which can be used separately from the main house, ie is self-contained, you are creating a new dwelling. In urban areas subdivision is generally favoured, as it potentially increases the housing stock. In rural areas there is likely to be more concern over population density, green belt preservation, etc.

You can probably get away with holiday lets for a few months of the year, as you are not creating a tenancy and no-one is using the property as their main residence. It would be no different from running B&B in that regard. However if you let the property with exclusive occupancy to a tenant you start having to go down the route of fire separation between adjacent dwellings etc. You'd also have to watch you don't fall foul of HMO regulations, which in England is a planning matter, and in Scotland is housing.

Regardless whether tenancy or holiday let, if you are submetering gas or electricity then there are resale of energy regulations you have to follow.

Owain

[mark]

Where the occupant of the annexe has some connection to and shares living facilities with the main house, eg cooking/eating. They have to effectively be part of the same household.

As soon as you create a property which can be used separately from the main house, ie is self-contained, you are creating a new dwelling. In urban areas subdivision is generally favoured, as it potentially increases the housing stock. In rural areas there is likely to be more concern over population density, green belt preservation, etc.

You can probably get away with holiday lets for a few months of the year, as you are not creating a tenancy and no-one is using the property as their main residence. It would be no different from running B&B in that regard. However if you let the property with exclusive occupancy to a tenant you start having to go down the route of fire separation between adjacent dwellings etc. You'd also have to watch you don't fall foul of HMO regulations, which in England is a planning matter, and in Scotland is housing.

Regardless whether tenancy or holiday let, if you are submetering gas or electricity then there are resale of energy regulations you have to follow.

Owain

Thanks for that, it's all getting a bit complicated! Heating, hot water and electric are all from the main house and there are no plans to change that, so does that mean I wouldn't be creating a new dwelling?

mark

[mark]

I'm starting to comprehend what you mean by hassle! Thanks.

mark

[Owain]

No, you'd be creating a dwelling that didn't have its own heating system :-(

Owain

[Piers Finlayson]

I'm vaguely familiar with this area - assuming you're talking England or Wales.

First of all council tax. It sounds awfully like what you have today should (and would be, should VOSA get wind of it) be council taxed separately from your main house. My understanding (from VOSA, admittedly could be biased!) is that generally the bathroom is the test of whether it is capable of being a standalone dwelling and should then qualify for council tax. You haven't said whether you had planning to convert the barn in the first place. If you did I'm surprised VOSA haven't found you!

To let out as holiday let I think you do need change of use planning permission. The council is likely to consider stuff like access, parking, etc, if you apply for this. Whether you get it is likely also to be dependent on what sort of location you are in. Are you rural or in a tourist hotspot, or are you in the middle of a town. (I'm guessing you're more rural and will therefore stand a better chance. You may also need a few physical changes but possibly not - for small scale lets like this the regs at least to operate are far less onerous (e.g. less hassle on the fire side of things).

Once you have converted then you essentially have a choice of council tax or business rates (NNDR). If you make it available for > 180 days per year you pay NNDR, if less you pay council tax. Whether the current property would drop a band depends on whether it currently includes it as it stands. If you don't know, take your banding, find out what this meant your house should have been worth in the year XXXX, and see if you think that's sensible with or without the conversion.

You may also find people like the water company and electric company want to charge you more for their service if they find out there's something business related going on. I wouldn't tell them!