Terzo 333

Have recently moved into a house which has a double garage (attached to the house) This garage has been converted into a granny flat (one half kitchen and shower room the other half dining and bedroom)

I am wanting to convert it so it would be one half garage and the other half a beauty salon (for the missus) My question is, will I need to apply for planning permission ? (The outside will not change at all)

Thanks

Matt

douglasb

Don't know if Planning will be bothered, but do your deeds allow you to run a business from your home? Your insurer will also be interested in this (eg. hairdryer overheats, goes on fire, house burns down, you're not insured as you haven't told them that the missus is running a business from the garage).

Have a chat with the local planners. They are human (allegedly) and should be able to advise you.

Just thought - Change of Use (residential to business) means that the Planning dept will want to know.

The Snug Rhino

you need building regs 100%

planning depends on your local authority - ifyour house is less than 35 years old its possible its a requirement to get permission to drop a parking space (a garage)

i am doing this right now and 2 weeks into the planning process....anoying but you dont want to skip it!

GC8

How long has it been converted for? If they got away with it for long enough then.....

The Snug Rhino

one assumes the original concersion had permssion....cant belive he would have bought it without that.

nook123

Im in a similar situation. Somebody I know spoke to a building inspector who says that if the conversion was done several years ago (10 years i think) then planning permission is no longer required - similar to prescription rights over land I think but sounds dodgy to me. Anyone out there know of anything?

pwhittle

our deeds say we can't run a business from home - which is quite common. we get round it by running 2.
Our solicitor warned us as she had to, but said that in practice nothing would happen, and it's really only the original house builders (if still around), who can take action.
They even state that we have to leave the bushes in the front garden within certain size limits.
The previous owners ran 2 large minibuses from home - much greater impact on neighbours than the occasional visitor we get.

You would defo need building regs, and planning, as you're changing the use of a building, not just it's inside.

LG John

What you are proposing is a change of use. In these sorts of situations planners have to take a fact and degree approach. If you were to convert your garage to a fully-fleged beauty saloon with members of the public dropping in off the street to get their nails done then I'd suggest there has been a material change in use and you require planning permission.

However, I suspect this won't be a saloon with a shop frontage to entice punters in off the street but rather an appointment/client based set up whereby people turn up by appointment for thier session. If this is the case and there isn't a terrific throughput of punters throughout the day then I'd suggest that the business use is incidental to the use and enjoyment of the house. So you see, it's got a lot to do with the set up and intensity of the use. If it is the case that the building is primarily a dwellinghouse but with an ancillary small-scale business being run from it then you probably won't require planning permission.

However, each Local Authority (and planner for that matter) might take a different view. As with any business you don't want any tripping hazards when you are up and running so I'd write a letter to the Planning Authority explaining what you want to do, how you intend to operate it and what sort of numbers of clients you'll be dealing with, etc. Hopefully they'll write back saying that you don't need planning permission and you can file that letter away for safekeeping.

Kenny