The granny flat boom: Number of families building an annexe for relatives up by a third spurred on by lucrative tax breaks for homeowners
Soaring numbers of homeowners are building granny flats to house elderly relatives or grown-up children, figures show.
Properties with an annexe for family members have increased by more than a third in the past two years.
The boom is believed to have been partly spurred on by a lucrative council tax break for homeowners with granny flats.
Everyone is building annexes to their homes and using them to house relatives these days, in order to take advantage of a 50% discount in Council Tax. But with all of these new extensions and renovations taking place apparently all over the country, there must be a growing need for reliable handymen to get the work done?
Celia Francis, chief executive of tradesmen website Rated People, said: ‘A shortage of affordable housing for today’s first-time buyer, coupled with elderly relatives in need of care, are resulting in up to three generations living under one roof.’
Yet another case of fortuitous findings from a company which happened to commission the ‘research’ – it’s a website which helps people locate tradesmen who happen to find that there’s a growing demand for reliable tradesmen.