Garden outbuildings are very common. People use them as home offices, gyms, studios, workshops, storage rooms and children’s playrooms. In many cases, they can be built without a full planning application under permitted development rights.
We have written separately about when an outbuilding is ‘reasonably required’ under permitted development rules. This article deals with a different question: once the outbuilding exists, what can you actually use it for?
The basic rule
A normal garden outbuilding can usually be used for purposes connected with the main house. A home office, gym, games room, studio or storage building will usually be fine, provided the building itself complies with the permitted development rules.
What you cannot usually do is use a garden outbuilding as a separate house or flat.
That means you should be very careful about putting someone in an outbuilding in a way that looks independent from the main house. A bed on its own is not always the problem. The problem is when the building starts to function as fully separate living accommodation.
Permitted development does not allow a new annexe
Permitted development rights under Class E do not allow you to build a new outbuilding for use as living accommodation. You cannot use Class E to create a new granny annexe, bedsit, bedroom suite or self-contained flat in the garden.
Class E is for buildings used for purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the main house, such as a home office, gym, games room, studio or storage building. It does not authorise primary residential accommodation.
There is, however, an important distinction between building a new outbuilding for living accommodation and changing the use of an existing outbuilding.
If an outbuilding was lawfully built for an incidental purpose, such as a gym or home office, its later use as additional accommodation for the main house will not require planning permission. For example, an existing garden room might later be used by a teenager, an elderly parent or a guest, provided it remains part of the same dwellinghouse and is not used as a separate independent dwelling.
The key point is that the use must remain connected to the main house. If the occupier still forms part of the same household and relies on the main house for day-to-day living, the use may remain ancillary to the main dwelling. But if the outbuilding has its own kitchen, bathroom, entrance, bills, postal address or tenant, the council may say that a separate dwelling has been created. That would normally require planning permission.
So the distinction is this: Class E does not let you build a new annexe from scratch, but an existing lawful outbuilding may sometimes be used flexibly as extra accommodation for the main house, so long as it does not become a separate home.
Can someone sleep in a garden room?
Occasional sleeping is unlikely to be the main issue. For example, a teenager using a garden room from time to time, or a guest sleeping there occasionally, is very different from somebody living there as their own separate home.
The council will be much more concerned if the building has its own kitchen, bathroom, entrance, bills, postal address or tenant. Those are the kinds of features that make an outbuilding look less like part of the house and more like a separate dwelling.
The real question is practical: does the person using the outbuilding still live as part of the household in the main house, or are they living independently in the garden?
What about a granny annexe?
A granny annexe can be acceptable, but it needs to remain genuinely connected to the main house.
If an elderly parent or adult child uses an outbuilding for extra space, but still shares day-to-day life with the main house, the planning position may be manageable. But if the annexe has everything needed for independent living, and the occupier lives separately, the council may say that a new dwelling has been created.
This is why councils are often cautious about annexes. They worry that today’s family annexe could become tomorrow’s rented studio flat.
In some cases, the safest route is to apply for planning permission for an annexe, with a condition saying it cannot be used as a separate dwelling. That can give the family the space they need while reassuring the council that a new independent home is not being created.
Why councils worry about ‘beds in sheds’
The phrase ‘beds in sheds’ usually refers to garden buildings used as hidden or poor-quality rented accommodation.
This is a real enforcement issue in some areas. A building may be described as a gym or office, but then fitted out with a bed, kitchen and shower and rented as a studio flat. Councils are particularly concerned where this creates cramped accommodation, noise, parking pressure, waste problems or overlooking.
That does not mean every garden room is suspicious. It does mean that, if someone is living in an outbuilding, the planning position needs to be clear.
What if the outbuilding has been used as a separate dwelling for years?
If an outbuilding has been used as a separate dwelling for a long time, it may be possible to apply for a Lawful Development Certificate.
This is not the same as asking for planning permission. The council is not deciding whether the outbuilding would be acceptable as a new dwelling today. It is deciding whether the use has become lawful through the passage of time.
These cases depend heavily on evidence. You may need tenancy agreements, council tax records, utility bills, dated photographs, letters, statutory declarations or other documents showing when the use began and how the building was occupied.
We have dealt with cases of this kind, including an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness for use of an outbuilding as a separate dwelling and a Certificate of Lawfulness for a conservatory extension and outbuilding as a separate dwelling.
You may also find our article on the 4-year rule in planning useful if the issue is whether the use has become lawful over time.
What if the council investigates?
If the council receives a complaint, it may open a planning enforcement investigation. It may ask who is living in the building, whether rent is being paid, whether the occupier uses the main house, how long the arrangement has been in place and whether the building has its own kitchen or bathroom.
Do not ignore the council, but do not rush into a detailed response without thinking carefully. What you say at the beginning can affect the whole case, especially where the issue is whether the outbuilding is part of the main house or a separate dwelling.
How Just Planning can help
Just Planning advises homeowners, landlords and developers on outbuildings, granny annexes, Lawful Development Certificates, retrospective planning applications and planning enforcement cases.
We can review the planning history, photographs, drawings, the use of the building and any correspondence from the council. We can then advise whether the outbuilding is likely to be lawful, whether planning permission is needed and what the best route is.
Outbuildings can be useful, but they are not a shortcut to creating a separate dwelling. The safest approach is to understand the planning position before the council becomes involved.
If you are dealing with a garden outbuilding, granny annexe, beds in sheds allegation or enforcement investigation, contact Just Planning for clear, fixed-fee advice on your options.
