Living In A Shed - Is It Legal?

AndyBSG

Not sure this is the write area of the forum but couldn't find anywhere else.

My neighbour has a small brick shed at the bottom of their garden and it has become apparent that it has been converted into a bedroom with someone living in it.

From what we've see it has had a sink, toilet, bed and TV aerial put in there but it the structure itself is built from a single row of bricks. i.e. no cavity or breeze block and the flat roof is just wooden beams with roofing felt.

They may have put some thermal/Kingspan boards up inside, i'm not sure. It also has old single pane glass windows.

So, basically when we are out in our garden now we can hear the TV blaring through the paper thin walls and here the person living there on the toilet and hear them on the phone all the time f'ing and blinding to whoever it is, they may as well be standing in our garden due to the complete lack of soundproofing.

What are the laws regarding this? Surely there are planning, building regulation and even council tax considerations to converting a shed to an additional habitable living/sleeping area?

00ec25

AndyBSG wrote: »

Surely there are planning, building regulation and even council tax considerations to converting a shed to an additional habitable living/sleeping area?

naturally there are rules, you can google then.
https://www.waltons.co.uk/blog/can-i-live-in-my-garden-shed

Jun 2013
Slough borough council, which estimates up to 3,000 people are living illegally in the town, recently sent up an aircraft with thermal-imaging cameras to pick up heat being emitted from outbuildings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10143697/Blighted-by-an-epidemic-of-beds-in-sheds.html

aneary

Depends if the person living there is paying rent. If my mum kicked my dad out and he decided to live in the shed I'm not sure anyone could do much.

There may be a duty of care if the person is mentally incapable though.

00ec25

aneary wrote: »

Depends if the person living there is paying rent. If my mum kicked my dad out and he decided to live in the shed I'm not sure anyone could do much..

not true, read the links above. yes someone would have to report him living there, but once reported, the absence of rent is not the determining factor.

Rambosmum

Is it a teenage child? It's not ideal, but my friend's bedroom was in the outhouse once he reached an age where he didn't want to share with his sister.

00ec25

Rambosmum wrote: »

Is it a teenage child? It's not ideal, but my friend's bedroom was in the outhouse once he reached an age where he didn't want to share with his sister.

define ideal? This one would disagree with you:

the parent who sent her son to live in the shed:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2004/mar/10/familyandrelationships.features10

cloo

I would think it most likely to be an illegal let. In your position I would call the council so they can check, as it's not on for people to be cashing in by letting out space that is probably neither safe nor sanitary. I'm not normally one for going straight to the authorities with things rather than talking, but this is not one of those cases where you can just casually ask your neighbour about what's going on!

Davesnave

It's not always a money-making thing.

I know of someone who's converted an outbuilding - rather well, in fact - to house a family member + child they feel they have a duty towards. It's a cultural thing, as in this country they have no legal or social liability at all.

I wouldn't say it is ideal, but knowing what I know, it's likely to be the best option for all concerned.

moneyistooshorttomention

Guess part of the answer lies with "What part of the country are you living in?".

Is it one where "beds in sheds" is happening on the one hand (eg Slough for instance) or somewhere where it never happens? That might help work out whether it needs reporting or no - ie you'd report in the first instance (ie a "beds in sheds" area) but give more leeway if it wasnt that sort of area I'd say and it didnt look like an attempt to do "thin end of wedge" and make it into that sort of area.

Doozergirl

Planning permission IS required for an outbuilding which contains living accommodation as you describe. It is never permitted development.

Any living accommodation requires full building regulations approval, so any recent conversion to accommodation will of course need good insulation and to be of sound structure. There's actually nothing to stop it being a single skin of brick thick.

So, it can certainly be reported to the planning department for enforcement and you should expect something to be done.

Doozergirl

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Guess part of the answer lies with "What part of the country are you living in?".

Is it one where "beds in sheds" is happening on the one hand (eg Slough for instance) or somewhere where it never happens? That might help work out whether it needs reporting or no - ie you'd report in the first instance (ie a "beds in sheds" area) but give more leeway if it wasnt that sort of area I'd say and it didnt look like an attempt to do "thin end of wedge" and make it into that sort of area.

No, it doesn't.

It would still need reporting in Slough. If someone is living is something as their home, it always needs relevant permissions. The entire purpose of planning and building control is to provide us all with safe, clean places to live, *especially* people who end up living in sheds, and especially people living in sheds in Slough who are almost always being exploited.