Legal/illegal outbuilding

[Deleted User]

My friend recently bought a 3 bed house with an outbuilding. I put some money towards buying in agreement i could use the outbuilding for work/office area. The vendor used the outbuilding as a gym as it has shower and toilet with smallish room that could fit a double bed. My friend decided prior to moving that he wanted to rent 2 rooms in the house which wasnt the original plan and because I have a dog I decided it would be best if I took the outbuilding and put my bed in there to keep dog away from others...3 weeks down the line a neighbour has complained saying the outbuilding is illegal and someone is living in it so had the council round today who were pretty decent about whole situation and getting back to us at the end of week.

Where do we stand with regards to the original owner saying he built it 10 years ago and never mentioned he didn't have permission...this house was bought based on having this building. Also it is not a self contained building with kitchen area etc so I use the house for cooking, washing etc.

HappyMJ

Did your friend mention the outbuilding to the solicitor during the conveyancing process so the solicitor could check for building approval?

My guess is no...so it's just a shed. There's nothing wrong with having a shed without building approval no matter what it's made from but you can't live in it.

You will have to move out of the shed and into the house or into another house.

TBagpuss

Did you / your friend mention to your conveyancer that you were planning to live in the shed?
If not, then they are not at fault.
If the shed was built without require planing permission/building regs then what the council can do will depend on how long ago it was done.
If you wanted to use it as an office or personal gym you'd probably be OK to continue to use it for those purposes but if you want to live there you'd need to make applications to have it converted to residential use, which is likely to require planning permission and actions to bring it up to comply with current building regs, and you might also have to pay separate council tax for it

Hoploz

Permitted Development allows an outbuilding which is ancillary to the house, ie used as part of the enjoyment of the house, such as gym. It does not allow it to be used as independent accommodation which is what it looks like if you're the owners friend and you are living in it.

There wouldn't be a problem if you live in the house and use it as an office as part of the residence. If you're running a business using it as premises, you might have a problem also.

What did you say to the council when they came?

moneyistooshorttomention

More to the point - what have you said to your "friend"?

He took money out of you towards his house purchase based on you staying in one of the bedrooms in the house and having the outbuilding as an office - from what I can make out from what you say. It looks like he has reneged on the deal he made with you.

Have you got it in writing that you own part of his house? (putting that money in towards it = part ownership).

csgohan4

Another reason why friends and money don't mix

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Daveym79 wrote: »

My friend recently bought a 3 bed house with an outbuilding. I put some money towards buying in agreement i could use the outbuilding for work/office area. The vendor used the outbuilding as a gym as it has shower and toilet with smallish room that could fit a double bed. My friend decided prior to moving that he wanted to rent 2 rooms in the house which wasnt the original plan and because I have a dog I decided it would be best if I took the outbuilding and put my bed in there to keep dog away from others...3 weeks down the line a neighbour has complained saying the outbuilding is illegal and someone is living in it so had the council round today who were pretty decent about whole situation and getting back to us at the end of week.

Where do we stand with regards to the original owner saying he built it 10 years ago and never mentioned he didn't have permission...this house was bought based on having this building. Also it is not a self contained building with kitchen area etc so I use the house for cooking, washing etc.

You say you put money towards buying so you could use the outbuilding as an office. You say nothing about living in the house. Was living in the house (outbuilding or not) part of the arrangement for you putting money into the purchase?

statex

Has anyone heard of the 4 year rule, I read somewhere that if a building is errected without planning permission and not hidden. (ie covered with straw bales etc, which is what someone did locally and subsequently had to demolish it) Then the council are unlikely to request its removal. There must be something to this rule because when my son purchased his house he queried several issues such as when gas work was carried out or when re wiring was done. The sellers solicitor just replied each time that the work had been completed over 4 years and the seller had lost the paperwork..

The other point is that you may be allowed to build a shed etc in your garden but you are not allowed to install a toilet that is connected to the main drains.

Doozergirl

statex wrote: »

Has anyone heard of the 4 year rule, I read somewhere that if a building is errected without planning permission and not hidden. (ie covered with straw bales etc, which is what someone did locally and subsequently had to demolish it) Then the council are unlikely to request its removal. There must be something to this rule because when my son purchased his house he queried several issues such as when gas work was carried out or when re wiring was done. The sellers solicitor just replied each time that the work had been completed over 4 years and the seller had lost the paperwork..

The other point is that you may be allowed to build a shed etc in your garden but you are not allowed to install a toilet that is connected to the main drains.

Yes, the four year rule exists, but the problem is the sudden use as accommodation. You'd need to maintain that for four years.

Permitted development allows ancillary use, as already mentioned above.

glasgowdan

Is he living in it if it's just a bed though? The kitchen, living rooms and toilets are in the house. He's basically just camping in the shed... it's not a living space from what I can tell.

stator

As everyone has said, it's not the building that is the problem, it's your use of it which constitutes Change of Use and requires planning permission.

I suggest you change your living and work arrangements to something more suitable and/or legal