Garden chalet now a dwelling?

Duckman1

I have lived in a nice wooden chalet in my parents garden for nearly 5 years, the chalet has a bathroom and kitchen etc and I have recently been asked by the council to pay council tax back dated for the 5 year period I have been living here, they have been out to rate the building. Due to the fact that the building has been here more than 4 years I assume its exempt from planning? What will I need to do to register it as an official dwelling if it is possible?

McKneff

No one seems tohave answered you and the only thing I can suggest is rining the council and getting it straight from the horses mouth, so to speak.

princeofpounds

No one seems tohave answered you

Some of us were in bed... schoolnight and all that.

Given it is a separate dwelling, with its own bathroom facilities etc. then yes, you probably do have to pay council tax. All explained here:

http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/Publications/selfContainedUnits.html

As for planning, you should apply for a lawful development certificate, but the building probably is now lawful.

http://planninglawblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/4-year-rule.html

J_B

I would pay the council tax and keep quiet about the planning issues

The longer you are there, the more likely is that it will be accepted ... perhaps! :cool:

princeofpounds

The planning is fine now. Building control may be a separate issue, but less terminal. Council tax definitely due.

SailorSam

If there's a law saying that once a building has been there for 4yrs it's going to be accepted as Ok. What's the difference with that and other cases you read about. I'm thinking in particular about the farmer who built a big home they hid it behind haystacks for years. I believe that's still standing but still under threat.

Duckman1

SailorSam wrote: »

If there's a law saying that once a building has been there for 4yrs it's going to be accepted as Ok. What's the difference with that and other cases you read about. I'm thinking in particular about the farmer who built a big home they hid it behind haystacks for years. I believe that's still standing but still under threat.

From my research I have read that if you have purposely tried to hide or conceal a building from the council then the 4 year rule doesn't count in that instance.

Duckman1

I think I will leave the issue as it is for now and just pay the council tax, then in a year or two ill apply for a lawfull development certificate. If I were to get the chalet on its own services from the utility companies, would there be a way of separating it from the main house so that they are completely separate properties?

princeofpounds

What's the difference with that and other cases you read about.

Concealment doesn't count towards the 4 years. As explained in the link I posted.

If I were to get the chalet on its own services from the utility companies, would there be a way of separating it from the main house so that they are completely separate properties?

For the purposes of utility billing, yes. But not much else. If you want it to be on a separate title, that will take a lawyer and modifications to the title and title plan. It's not really that necessary however, unless you want to sell. If you rent, you need to be quite precise with what part of the property is demised (allocated) to the tenant.

Mrs_pbradley936

A house we once lived in had a detached garage and the people that we sold to applied and were given permission for it to become an annex. Several years on and it is now a bungalow in its own right. No idea how planning works but I wish we had thought of it!

SailorSam

Since reading your thread earlier i've been thinking about this,
When my my Mum had a big garage built years ago , a couple of builders who came to give us estimates thought it was so big it could be a small bunglow. After my Mum died we did talk about getting it converted with me in the house and my Sister in the bunglow. We never did it. But now my Sister and i have fallen out and i've thought if we had got the garage done there may be all sort of problems if one of us had wanted to sell, with her living in the garden.
Have you thought about the problems that may lie ahead if your parents wanted to sell, would any buyers want you living in the garden.