How Big Can A Granny Annexe Be?

If you’ve found yourself on this blog post then it’s likely you’ve been wondering about annexes. Perhaps you’ve been looking at your garden and thinking of the space available. Which means you’ve probably also found yourself asking ‘how big can a granny annexe be?’ Is your garden even big enough?

Just because you don’t have a few acres of land doesn’t mean you can’t have a separate living quarters on your property. There are multiple sizes of granny annexes available and we aim to answer any questions you have related to that.

Do I Have Space For A Granny Annexe?

No garden is the same so whether you have space for a granny annexe does depend on a few things, but mostly on your location. For instance, even though more modern builds are providing owners with larger outdoor spaces, coastal and suburban homes naturally have much more exterior space than city homes or terraced houses.

The median UK garden is 188 square metres but the layout is very varied across the country. There are long, narrow outdoor spaces as well as smaller or public community spaces that come along with new build apartments.

If you are considering installing a granny annexe in your garden, there’s just a few quick tests that you can do yourself to check you have enough space. This is mainly just so you can check that your annexe project will be complying with the rules of your Local Planning Authority (LPA). You can find your LPA here.

LPA rules do tend to vary across the country but when they look at the planning permission for your annexe, the primary factor they’ll consider is size. The size of your proposed annexe in regard to the size of your existing home and land surrounding it.

You cannot have an annexe that has a larger footprint than your main house because an annexe is considered as ancillary or subordinate to your property. So the more land on your property that this project takes up, the trickier it becomes to get the planning permission granted.

How To Check If You Have Enough Room For An Annexe

It’s easier to already have measurements in mind when working out how big you can go for your annexe project. Many annexe providers offer pre-fabricated annexe that are at standard set sizes so you need to consider which ones will be most suited to your needs. Remember, if you have room leftover, you can always go back and choose a bigger annexe for the project!

Most annexes now come with either one- or two-bedrooms so it’s important to determine this as well. How many bedrooms do you need? To make decisions like this easier for you, all our annexes have their measurements displayed and their prices, too, so you can budget for your annexe.

Getting all your measurements in beforehand as well as considering other factors for the interior can be overwhelming. So we suggest marking it all down physically.

You can:

• Use a piece of graph paper to plot out your house and your garden.
• Then, add on any existing extensions or outbuildings you have.
• You can shortlist annexes that will fit in the remaining space.

Being able to physically see the plot of your garden and annexe in front of you might be more helpful in seeing the space that’s left. Anything less than 50% of the overall size means you’ll struggle more trying to get permission for your annexe.

Planning Permission for Your Granny Annexe

Looking at choosing one of our annexes? Then don’t worry if you’re not confident with your measurements – we include a site survey and a planning permission service as a part of your package.

However, it’s still good to have an estimate of the size you have available so you know how big you can go. That way you’ll know what sort of annexe we can provide for you. When you get in touch with us and had your initial consultation, an annexe expert from our team will take over from there. That’s your worries sorted.

There are so many things to think about when it comes to a project such as this. Like any family care worries you have, how to budget, queries about size, and, of course, planning permission.

Granny annexe planning permission is a service that we provide to help make your families journey as smooth and as worry-free as possible.

Got questions about our annexes or about planning permission? Are you curious about our process? Get in touch with us! One of our team members – friendly and knowledgeable – will be happy to answer your queries.