Single New Dwellings / Annexes

New rules for turning annexes into separate homes

We explained here that using an annex as a separate home almost always needs planning permission.

Many people don’t realise this, and rent out their annex to tenants or holiday makers.  Doing this without planning permission is likely to be a breach of planning control.

If this breach occurs for long enough, and it is continuous, then this breach can become lawful.  To confirm that, we can prepare and submit a certificate of lawfulness to the Council for you.

So how long is “long enough”, you might ask.

Up to 24^th April 2024, the building needed to be used as a separate dwelling for 4 years to be lawful.  From 25^th April, this changed to 10 years.

However… transitional arrangements apply, which means that the change of use of an annex (or any other building) to a separate dwelling is lawful after 4 years if the breach started on or before 24^th April 2024.

So, if you think you might have breached planning controls in this way, and this breach started before 24^th April 2024 and has been going for at least 4 years, please get in touch [link to contact page from here] and we can discuss whether submitting a certificate of lawfulness is the right thing for you to do.”