Permissions?

[Borderreiver]

I rang our County council (Northumberland) today for some info on getting permission to run B&B on our farm. I also wanted to know about business rates, and how they apply the rules for the number of rooms used for B&B.
They were amazingly unhelpful! The person on the phone could not answer any questions. She said I must send a sketch or photos of what we want to do, including parking (we are on a farm with large yards for goodness sake)and it will cost £100 to reply! What? Can this be right?

[B&B_newB]

Hi
It doesn't surprise me that your CC are a little unhelpful. I am in the process of setting up a B&B and have found the same, with a few exceptions - it seems to be a totally grey area as to whether you need change or use or would be charged business rates.

I eventually had a number of conversations with my local planners and we came to the conclusion that as long as the primary use of the house is still as a private house and not as a business, then you don't need planning permission. For us it helped as we are going to have less than 6 guests and they wont have a designated breakfast room or lounge, only use of our own dining room. I put all this down in a very detailed email and included details of parking, that we didn't intend to have a display sign outside and that we weren't serving dinner or alcohol. It seemed to do the trick.

We were also told that we could apply officially at a cost of circa £350, but that we could also do this retrospectively if for any reason the council received a complaint after we had started trading. As for rates, I think the 6 guest thing applies here too.. I have made contact with my local authority but have never received a response.

If you've not already heard of it, I found 'Just Six Guests' a really useful book, by Helen Jackman - it's on Amazon, or I have a spare copy!!
Good luck
Mike