Blog
Short answers to the questions families raise once the cost is settled and the details start.
Can you live in a garden room?
Not as a rule. A garden room put up without permission is allowed because it is for uses such as an office or hobby room. Sleeping there, with a kitchen and bathroom, needs planning permission and building regulations approval as an annexe.
What building regulations apply to a granny annexe?
A fixed annexe always needs building regulations approval, because it contains sleeping accommodation. Structure, fire safety, insulation, drainage, ventilation and access all apply. A twin-unit caravan is not a building, so the regulations do not apply to it.
Do you pay council tax on a granny annexe?
Usually the annexe is given its own band, but in England a relative living there gets 50% off, and the annexe is exempt if that relative is 65 or over or disabled. An annexe used as part of the main home also gets the 50% discount.
How big can a granny annexe be?
With planning permission there is no fixed maximum; the council asks whether the annexe is still clearly part of the main house. On the caravan route the limit is fixed by law at 20 m by 6.8 m, with 3.05 m inside height. Most family annexes are between 20 and 50 m².