A Hyde couple moved into a luxury granny annexe in their garden so their daughter could raise her children in her childhood home.
\nTom and Terri Beirne say the move has \u201cchanged our lives\u201d by allowing three generations of the family to live side-by-side while still keeping their independence.
\nThe pair swapped their semi-detached home for a bespoke, two-bedroom annexe built by the expert team at family-run Rubicon Garden Rooms, based near the North Wales\/Cheshire border.
\nAccording to Rubicon, more and more families are turning to purpose-built granny annexes in the face of rising property prices and the high cost of care homes.
\nAs well as the two bedrooms, the annexe has a large bathroom with shower, and modern open plan kitchen and living room.
\nTom and Terri\u2019s annexe did not need planning permission, but Tom said as a planning officer he had seen a rise in the popularity of all kinds of garden rooms, from granny annexes to home offices, since the Covid pandemic.
\nTerri, 65, a retired corporate sales manager, and her 62-year-old husband Tom, who works as a planning officer at Bury Metropolitan Borough Council, say the move has allowed daughter Abi to live in her childhood home with her husband Ben and their children Phoebe, 10, and Pippa, seven.
\nAnd Terri said the annexe was also a way of future-proofing their own housing needs as the couple become older.
\nShe said: \u201cOne of the reasons we went for an annexe was probably from the experience we had with my dad.
\n\u201cDad was very ill and I lost him in 2021 at the age of 87 and he and my mum lived in an old detached three-bedroomed house.
\n\u201cHe could not get up the stairs, his health was failing and it put a lot of pressure on me as the eldest daughter nearby and also on Abi who supported me in looking after him. I just don\u2019t want Abi to go through that.
\n\u201cThe house has been a brilliant family house, it was my house as Tom and I met when I was 40.
\n\u201cThe grandchildren have always loved it and me and Tom were rattling around in there.
\n\u201cAbi has always wanted the house, and it’s fantastic we can make that happen while living close by.
\n\u201cThe benefit for us still living here means we still have our old neighbours, still have our friends around.
\n\u201cAll I can say is how lucky am I that I can see my daughter and her family enjoying that house while I am alive?
\n\u201cI can watch my granddaughters every day growing up, it\u2019s wonderful, it is life-changing.\u201d
\nTerri was full of praise for the team at Rubicon Garden Rooms.
\nShe said: \u201cI was amazed at how efficient they were, they told me when they would be turning up, what they would be doing, they were absolutely spot-on.
\n\u201cAny queries or questions were always answered quickly, the communication was superb. We got absolutely everything we wanted and expected.
\n\u201cThe build took nine weeks from flat ground to completion.\u201d
\nJohn Lyon, founder and managing director of Rubicon Garden Rooms, said: \u201cThe granny annexes are one of our growth areas, and remain highly popular with families looking for housing solutions.
\n\u201cWhat Tom and Terri have is a great example of pulling a family together by having a granny annexe in the garden.
\n\u201cThey are all together, they are looking after each other.
\n\u201cHaving the annexe means in the future they are less likely to be a burden on the local councils and having to pay for care homes.
\n\u201cIt is just a fantastic solution to the modern day housing crisis.\u201d
\nAbi, 35, a high school business manager, said: \u201cI grew up in the house since the age of 12 and it has been a brilliant house for us as a family, it\u2019s a proper home and is full of great memories, and I wanted to keep it in the family.
\n\u201cWe looked at houses round here for mum and Tom to move into but it just wasn\u2019t an option because they are so expensive and that\u2019s when we looked at an annexe.
\n\u201cAnd how lucky am I to have my mum on my doorstep?
\n\u201cWith my mum being a single parent and me as a single child I always wanted a big family around, and I have it now.
\n\u201cI helped to care for my grandad when he was ill and I have my mum here, I have Tom here, and I need to make sure they are safe, and what better way to do it?
\n\u201cIf anything happened to my mum or Tom I want us to be here close by to help them.
\n\u201cHaving the annexe has been an absolute game-changer for the family.
\n\u201cNanny and grandad are on the doorstep, it is great, it has changed our lives.
\n\u201cIt was a dream, and now it is a reality.\u201d
\nTom, who uses one of his annexe\u2019s bedrooms as a home office, said: \u201cApplications for annexes have become more popular, I think especially since Covid.
\n\u201cWhen people had to stay at home to work, you had office workers at home, with the kids who are also staying at home, so people were wanting to build a garden annexe for an office.
\n\u201cIt started off as a lot of offices and then it went from offices to a gym or something similar.
\n\u201cWith our annexe we have enough separation and privacy, but we can mind the grandchildren and help out with them, it\u2019s perfect really.\u201d<\/p>\n