Advice please - Planning Permission / Building Regulation Certificate

lincroft1710

EJE wrote: »

I think council tax might be payable even if we don't let out the annex. Am I right in thinking that it depends whether the annex is classed as self contained? If self contained it would be subject to council tax, if not it would be classed as part of the main property. The council tax band for the main property might have gone up following the construction/conversion of the annex.

WHY IS IT ALL SO COMPLICATED?!

The VOA may not be aware of the outbuilding's existence.

It is a borderline case as to whether it would be a separate CT assessment, but as no accommodation or facilities are shared with the main house it would probably have its CT band. If it's been rented out to full time students then no CT would be paid.

It's so complicated because people appear not to have complied with the rules and regulations.

Also as the current owner has carried out other extensions, the CT band of the main house could also increase.

Annie1960

http://www.voa.gov.uk/cti/RefS.asp?lcn=0

Check the council tax here. Look at whether it has a 'i' indicator, which means it will be revalued when it sells.

This does not necessarily mean the CT will increase, just that the valuer will have a look at it.

EJE

lincroft1710 wrote: »

It's so complicated because people appear not to have complied with the rules and regulations.

Yep!

Annie1960 wrote: »

Check the council tax here. Look at whether it has a 'i' indicator, which means it will be revalued when it sells. This does not necessarily mean the CT will increase, just that the valuer will have a look at it.

Thanks, I did check and it does have an 'i' indicator. The council tax band could well go up, because of the extension and annex, but that wouldn't be a big deal. It would be much more expensive if we had to pay separate council tax for the annex, though.

Our conveyancer said she is "not a planning expert" (what are we paying her for then?!) and advised us to ask our surveyor. Our surveyor said that our conveyancer should check with the planning department at the council. He seems to think that planning permission was needed for the annex, and a retrospective application will be needed. But from what I've read about the loophole I'm not so sure, if it was an outbuilding converted to an annex then it may have been OK. Anyway hopefully the council should be able to confirm. Our only worry is that if anything was done without permission, we're drawing the council's attention to it by asking them...