Novice starting up - or not

[Ricdeb]

We have a house which has an attached forge (always part of the farmhouse) when we bought it the forge had been changed into a self contained flat. (but we now recognise that we should have asked to see the building regs - there are none)
We had wanted to use this part of the house (which some may call an annexe) for holiday lets or B&B. As we have started to read up on this - we are getting more confused and are stuck as to how we should go forward if at all.
We believe that if we remove the kitchen and put a door through to the main house then this would be just one of our bedrooms with an en-suite that we use for B&B and so be part of the house.
It seems that if we keep it as a self contained flat that we will have to apply for 'change of use' and we will be liable for council tax for an extra dwelling - I suspect too that it would then become a business?
So far as fire regs - does anyone out there know what hoops we would have to jump through?

Many thanks for any help

[Der Alte Fritz]

Hello
Firstly you have to reckon on this being a BUSINESS.

So you are going to have to deal with the Council, Planning, Fire Dept, Environmental Health, Council tax/Small Business Rates, Customs and Excise, Inland Revenue, Visit Britain, TV licensing, Copyright people like PPH and PRS and all manner of people who will try to sell you things like your bank, finance companies, catering equipment, advertising, accountancy, book keeping, Yellow Pages, Telephones, mobile telephones, Wifi equipment and internet connections, computers, credit card machines, faxes, .....

Yes there is a lot of it! So you need a lot of information before you start. Buy yourself half a dozen books on running a Bed and Breakfast/Self Catering. Join the various trade bodies and read up their articles, join forums and ask questions. Make a business plan, show it to your bank manager, tear it up and start again.

Then if you are really serious about this little venture, go and work alongside someone who already does it for a couple of days in high season. Live their life. Talk to them.

If after gaining all this knowledge you are still serious about this, then it is worth banging on the door of the Planning Office.

Long gone are the days when you could let out the spare room for a bit of extra cash. Modern bed and breakfasts are run by professional people who have to deal with a raft of regulation and legislation and a whole load of unseen costs. You have to be committed.