Grandmother ordered to demolish granny annex in the garden

Marion Majors, a 70-year-old from Bradford, has been devastated to learn that she has to tear down the granny annex in her back garden. Marion had got planning permission to build an annex, and spent her life savings on the home, so she was stunned when the council decided she had breached the terms of the permission, and it had to go.

Marion had decided to build a granny annex so that her daughter, her full time carer, could move into her house with her husband and son, in order to take better care of her. She got permission to build, but on closer inspection realised that she didn't have the money.

So instead, she spent £20,000 on a static caravan and placed it in the garden. The Daily Mail reported that a neighbour complained, and the council decided that despite the caravan actually being smaller than the building she had applied to build, it didn't fit in with the rest of the street.

They ordered its demolition in February, and Marion has just lost her appeal. She has until October to comply, but is desperate to be allowed to stay.

The council told The Sun that it didn't want to be unsympathetic, but it had to enforce planning rules, and they had not given permission for a static caravan to be put on the site.

Not alone

It's not the first time councils have taken a hard line on static caravans in gardens. In 2013 we reported on the family who had tried to use a 26 foot caravan as an extension to a house in Deal, Kent. Again it was a mother who had bought the caravan and placed it in the garden so she could move into it, and her daughter could move into the main property in order to care for her. Again the neighbours complained, and she was ordered to remove it.

It may seem draconian. After-all, there are plenty of people who park a mobile home or caravan in their drive and use it as extra guest accommodation every-so-often, and this doesn't seem dramatically different. You could also argue that these solutions are stopping people from being a burden on the state, allowing their families to care for them

However, the rules around parking a caravan on your garden or drive clearly state that the caravan must remain moveable, it must not be used as someone's primary residence, and it has to be used for the benefit of people living in the house - and not as a separate dwelling. If you break these rules, the caravan falls within the planning regime, and will not get planning permission because it doesn't fit in with the area.

There may also be covenants in the property deeds, or separate rules that apply across the local area or estate, which expressly forbid any kind of caravan being parked at your property.

If you are looking for a granny flat solution to care issues as you get older, therefore, the static caravan may not work.

But what do you think? Is this fair? Is it a vital way to protect the look of the neighbourhood, or a significant barrier to people who want to care for elderly relatives in the family home. Let us know in the comments.