granny annexe troubles

Lakey

hi all.
the council have decided that an outbuilding that belongs to my property, an old farm house, is now named The Barn and will merit a council band A tax.
The property has been used by my disabled son up to now, and in honesty, I have been improving it for him to live in it when he turned 18.
The whole property - a main house, 4 bed 1 bathroom, and the barn, the size of a double garage and a bathroom- has always been clumped together at band G.
I am beginning to see that they are entitled to tax me, although I don't like it much.
I wonder whether I should appeal against the barn, or appeal against the barn and house at the same time. Doesn't it devalue my property now they are valued seperately?
I am hoping to sell the place, I feel that this two banding will put people off bigtime.
Would it have any effect in the appeal if the access to the two properties is really only suitable for one family.
many thanks if someone could help me. at least stop me whinging.




:A

CIS

the council have decided that an outbuilding that belongs to my property, an old farm house, is now named The Barn and will merit a council band A tax.

The banding would be decided by the VOA (https://www.VOA.gov.uk) not the council.

lincroft1710

If the barn has its own access, or access from main house without going through main room and has facilities for living/eating/sleeping/washing/food preparation, plus WC, then in Council Tax law it is a separate dwelling and thus will have its own band. The precedents for this have been well established and tested in the High Court, so there is little point in appealing the barn having its own CT band if the above criteria applies.

Whether the existing Band G remains correct for main house will depend how far into Band G it is, but if it was just an old barn it probably wouldn't have made much difference to value of whole property.

Many occupiers of such annexes qualify for exemption from paying CT on them, check directgov website.

Lakey

This is where it really is not clear. The building doesn't have any kitchen facilities, no sink or cooker or even cupboards so food could not be prepared there. What the council told me is that if there is a space with a plug that can be classed as a kitchen.
I wonder if there is somewhere specific I can check the criteria of living accomodation.

What you say about the main house value I suspect will be true. The outbuilding was fine structurely (?) but the windows were rotten so I did replace them because it was an eyesore. The actual building has been part of the farm from the 1600's. It was the previous owner that put windows etc in, albeit not good stuff.
The VOA/council tried to slap the council tax on this building in 1993. I found it on the website, it seems that it was turned down on appeal.
When I bought the place in 1998, a council tax man came to inspect and told me I had every right to have an outbuilding with a toilet. He didn't feel the need to raise council tax then. Mind you I had to tidy the place up to stop it being a danger to my kids and a blot on the landscape.

Thanks for all your replies so far. Seems like a fair cop gov.:A

lincroft1710

The trouble with "annexes" was that the goalposts kept getting moved. As it is nearly 3 yrs since I left VOA, they may have moved again. In 12 yrs dealing with CT appeals, nothing caused more work/controversy/time spent than annexes. I'll try to access most recent thinking on this.

My personal opinion is that the barn fails the annexe test - it might succeed if it was occupied by someone who was not a family member and did not use facilities of main house (so would either eat out or exist on takeaways) but that is a different ball game.

lincroft1710

Just checked both VOA website www.voa.gov.uk and the Practice Notes on Disaggregation of Dwellings. Both say should be facilities for food prep. If you've got the odd hour, worth reading. Link from website to Practice Note

Debt_Free_Chick

This is quite an interesting subject.

From a planning/use point of view, an annexe is effectively part of the main property i.e. it cannot be sold off separately and usually cannot be let, other than as a holiday home (subject to planning permission).

It's use is restricted to one that is ancillary to the main building.

So it seems incongruous that CT is levied separately. I don't doubt that it is - that would simply be one of the many vagaries of the tax system - but it's odd!

lincroft1710

DFC - CT law was drafted fairly quickly and sometimes didn't do what it said it would do on the can. The original thinking behind this aspect of the legislation was to ensure that flats/maisonettes/apartments each had their own CT band. But "granny annexes" got caught up and over the years Parliament has had opportunity to change law so they do not have sep CT bands but has chosen not to do so. Instead it has made the majority of occupiers of such annexes exempt from paying.

Lakey

Since I have owned the property >10 years, the property has never been lived in. The guy from the council told me that if the property has a plug socket, it can be classed as cooking facilities because you could plug in a small two ring cooker.
It just seems so wierd to me that they are now seperating a property which cannot be sold as seperate lots, and has access which is restrictive even for renting out. The building effectively would only be suitable for a member of the main house family, that is how I have viewed it. I have used it as an extra space, spare room if you like.

I am scared that if I appeal they will throw the book at me and decide to put it into a higher band.

The previous owners fought against a council tax banding which my solicitor did not make me aware of when I bought the place, and won the appeal in about 1993.

Its one of those things where I've got enough to do bringing up kids, full time work, worry of selling etc and I really don't need this hassle.
Thanks so much for your useful advice.
:A

Debt_Free_Chick

Ah - the exemption would make sense, as an annexe would effectively only be occupied by a member of the family occupying the main property.

Thanks for the info

lincroft1710

Lakey - if you're in England or Wales it is not council who decide if annex has to have sep band, it is VOA and "council guy" is talking billhooks, an electrical socket does not a kitchen make.

DFC - I should say that exemptions usually only apply to aged or disabled near relatives. If your 50 yr old able bodied brother occupied annex as his sole or main residence he would have to pay CT.