Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the interaction between planning restrictions on residential annexes and their treatment for council tax purposes; and whether he plans to review planning guidance where an annexe is treated as part of the main dwelling for planning purposes.

The planning and council tax regimes consider different matters when determining how an annexe should be categorised.

Whether a separate residential unit is created is a matter for the local planning authority to consider on a case-by-case basis and may depend, for example, both upon how the annexe is constructed, and how and by whom it is used.

The Valuation Office will assess whether a property is assigned its own council tax band. In doing this they will consider whether the property is a separate self-contained domestic property. The Valuation Office will consider this on a case-by-case basis.

There are no current plans to review planning guidance for annexes or how properties are assessed for council tax.