Granny annexes in Scotland: planning, council tax and costs

Scotland lets householders put up some garden buildings without applying, under Class 3A. The Scottish Government's planning circular on householder permitted development (May 2024) sets the limits: the building generally sits to the rear, it is no more than 4 metres high with eaves no higher than 3 metres, anything within a metre of the boundary is no higher than 2.5 metres, and at least half of the garden stays undeveloped. The circular is plain that a building put up this way cannot be used as a separate dwelling.

The guide to granny annexes covers the wider choices, and care at home or a care home helps if you are still deciding where your parent should live.

The line that matters is whether your parent will live in the annexe as their own home. Section 26 of the 1997 Act says that using garden land or buildings for a purpose incidental to enjoying the house is not development, and that using a single house as two or more separate homes is. Councils draw the line in their own guidance. Edinburgh's guidance for householders, for example, says a garden building must not have the facilities for somebody to live in it independently, and one that does is assessed as an application for a new house.

A mobile home or twin-unit lodge is the one route that can sometimes avoid an application, provided it meets the legal size limits for a caravan in section 13 of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 and your parent lives as part of the family. Can you put a granny annexe in your garden without planning permission explains that route in detail. In Scotland, the written confirmation that a plan is lawful is a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development, applied for under section 151 of the 1997 Act. Get one before you buy a mobile home.

Do you need planning permission for a granny annexe compares the rules with England and Wales. To check your own project, start with mygov.scot's planning permission guidance and your council's planning team.

1. 1

   Planning permission

   If needed

   Decides whether the annexe can be built and used as planned. The council may attach conditions, such as keeping the annexe tied to the main house.
2. 2

   Building warrant

   Before work starts

   Gives legal permission for the building work. It is needed for a new home, an extension, or turning a garage or loft into a room. It lasts 3 years from the date it is granted.
3. 3

   Completion certificate

   When the work is done

   You submit it to the council to certify that the work was carried out as the warrant allowed.

Mygov.scot's building warrant guidance is clear that if the work needs a warrant, you must have it before you start, and that starting without one is an offence that can lead to a fine. The completion certificate is a duty under section 17 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003. Having planning permission does not mean you have a warrant, or the other way round.

The warrant checks the design against Scotland's building standards, such as fire safety. If your parent already needs some help, designing a granny annexe for a parent who will need care covers level access, door widths and a wet room, which are easier to draw in than add later.

Every part of Scotland has an assessor, who decides which properties go on the council tax list and in which band. The Lothian assessor's published manual asks whether an annexe could be let separately, and the answer turns on its layout and who lives in it.

If your parent lives an independent life in an annexe with its own band, the annexe gets its own council tax bill. In England, an annexe lived in by a dependent relative, such as a parent aged 65 or over, is exempt, and other relatives get a 50% discount. The Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 has no class for an annexe lived in by a dependent relative, and the 50% annexe discount comes from regulations that apply in England only. Is a granny annexe subject to council tax covers the English rules.

The Scottish reductions that apply to any home can still lower your parent's bill. Mygov.scot's council tax page lists them: a discount for a person counted as the only adult living there, people who are not counted as adults (including people with a severe mental impairment and some live-in carers), a disability reduction that charges the band below for a home adapted for a disabled person, and the means-tested Council Tax Reduction, which can reduce the bill by up to 100%.

The planning fees are from the 2026 Scottish fee regulations. How much would it cost to build a granny annexe breaks the build cost down, and modular and prefab granny annexes covers ready-made buildings.

Buying rather than building brings Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, and the Additional Dwelling Supplement of 8% where a buyer already owns another home and is not replacing their main one (Revenue Scotland). In July 2026 the Scottish Government said, in its written submission on petition PE2221, that the law gives it no power to waive ADS case by case, including for a family buying to support a dependent relative, though it is still looking at the question. For a house sold with an annexe, ask your solicitor how it applies before you offer. Buying a house with an elderly parent covers ownership and care fees.

The sites are Rightmove, ESPC and S1homes, and finding a house with a granny annex for sale has tips on bedrooms, bungalows and viewings.

Before you offer on a house with an annexe, ask the seller's solicitor for the planning permission and any conditions on it, the building warrant and completion certificate for the annexe, and whether it has its own entry on the council tax list.

If your parent will need help once they move in, personal care arranged by a Scottish council is free if their care needs assessment shows they need it, whatever their age, income or savings, according to mygov.scot, and care funding in Scotland explains how to ask. For care you arrange privately, you can search for carers near you in Scotland and compare their rates. Visiting carers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour and live-in carers from £1,050 a week, with our fee included. Carers are self-employed and PrimeCarers is an introductory service: you choose the carer and agree the arrangement with them. Before a carer appears, we check their ID and right to work, they hold a PVG check (or an enhanced DBS check) issued within the last 2 years, and they pass an online interview. We do not check qualifications, training or references, and references and reviews on profiles are unverified, so ask the carer about their experience yourself. Visits booked through PrimeCarers are covered by the carer insurance policy we arrange, within its terms, and work arranged outside the platform is not. Care in a granny annexe explains how visits and live-in care work there.