Why this Herefordshire property is NOT a house

The owner of a Herefordshire country property has been told an annex to it can’t be classed as a separate house.

Consisting of two linked single-storey outbuildings, the Cider House adjoins Woods End (or Woodsend), off the main A417 between Newtown Cross and Burley Gate.

Gary Hodgetts had applied for a certificate of lawfulness confirming that the self-contained buildings had been in residential use for over four years – indeed, since 2016 – and were therefore immune from planning enforcement.

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He had converted the Cider House into additional living space in 2007, which he had occupied as part of Woods End until 2016, when after further building works it was occupied separately by a family member.

But planning officer Maria Philpott said that this change had been “simply to provide additional residential accommodation ancillary to the main house”.

“The fact that it is self-contained does not on its own demonstrate a separate residential planning unit,” she said, adding that the Cider House was “heavily reliant and integral to the main house regarding access, parking and amenity space”.

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Together, these factors “result in a scenario where the buildings simply cannot function independently as a separate dwelling”, she said.

Mr Hodgetts had provided no evidence that council tax was paid separately on the annex, nor that it had a separate postal address, she added.

As a result the council has declared use of the Cider House “is not lawful as a separate residential planning unit”.