Is there anyway to learn if you can make an outbuilding an Airbnb without spending £1000s beforehand?

[Richeh]

Hey,

Basically. I have an outbuilding cabin - wood based with a concrete platform. It has been framed and insulated, currrently used as a game room but looking at converting to a studio Airbnb. The garden is roughly 140 foot and the cabin is at the bottom end of that. I know that plumbing for a bathroom will be required but I was just wondering if anyone else has had experience regarding this type of conversion. Looking at the local council website they will charge hundreds to thousands just to see if this will be possible which whilst I semi-understand just feels like a money grab from the council ie can I not just provide X details and be told that yes that is fine or no you need to do XYZ etc taking into account building regulations but the council just seems to be taking the mick when asked basic questions. Charging several hundred to thousands just to see if it is possible/legal.

Has anyone else had experience converting a well insulated outbuilding into a temporary living accomodation and found a cheaper/easier way to find out if this is viable.

Don't get me wrong. I understand there are building regulations which I would adhere to but just dislike the idea of paying money to the council for essentially simple XYZ facts that they could ask online without charing a large amount for speciifc people to come and look and advise - to me seems like a basic if you adhere to to ABC you are fine but kinda think I am living in a dream world looking at the council site.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Buffman]

For an outdoor garden room to become habitable it needs building regulation sign off, fairly simple.

As I recall the fee depends on the cost of build but I'd expect it is under 1k

 

[Peerzy]

In this instance surely the council costs are completely justified. There is nothing to say the building you have is safe, meets all the legal requirements and is habitable. They need to be sure whatever you have had built is suitable. I suspect this is a non-starter as you're talking about a building 140ft away with currently no plumbing - where will the waste go and how will you get it there? I suspect the few hundred quid that the council want to charge are going to be insignificant to the thousands (tens of thousands?) it's going to cost to make it legally habitable as a rental.

Otherwise anyone would quickly chuck up a garden cabin thing and start charging on AirBnB.