A Hyde couple moved into a luxury granny annexe in their garden so their daughter could raise her children in her childhood home.
Tom and Terri Beirne say the move has “changed our lives” by allowing three generations of the family to live side-by-side while still keeping their independence.
The 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.
According 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.
As well as the two bedrooms, the annexe has a large bathroom with shower, and modern open plan kitchen and living room.
Tom and Terri’s 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.
Terri, 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.
And Terri said the annexe was also a way of future-proofing their own housing needs as the couple become older.
She said: “One of the reasons we went for an annexe was probably from the experience we had with my dad.
“Dad 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.
“He 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’t want Abi to go through that.
“The house has been a brilliant family house, it was my house as Tom and I met when I was 40.
“The grandchildren have always loved it and me and Tom were rattling around in there.
“Abi has always wanted the house, and it’s fantastic we can make that happen while living close by.
“The benefit for us still living here means we still have our old neighbours, still have our friends around.
“All I can say is how lucky am I that I can see my daughter and her family enjoying that house while I am alive?
“I can watch my granddaughters every day growing up, it’s wonderful, it is life-changing.”
Terri was full of praise for the team at Rubicon Garden Rooms.
She said: “I 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.
“Any queries or questions were always answered quickly, the communication was superb. We got absolutely everything we wanted and expected.
“The build took nine weeks from flat ground to completion.”
John Lyon, founder and managing director of Rubicon Garden Rooms, said: “The granny annexes are one of our growth areas, and remain highly popular with families looking for housing solutions.
“What Tom and Terri have is a great example of pulling a family together by having a granny annexe in the garden.
“They are all together, they are looking after each other.
“Having 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.
“It is just a fantastic solution to the modern day housing crisis.”
Abi, 35, a high school business manager, said: “I grew up in the house since the age of 12 and it has been a brilliant house for us as a family, it’s a proper home and is full of great memories, and I wanted to keep it in the family.
“We looked at houses round here for mum and Tom to move into but it just wasn’t an option because they are so expensive and that’s when we looked at an annexe.
“And how lucky am I to have my mum on my doorstep?
“With my mum being a single parent and me as a single child I always wanted a big family around, and I have it now.
“I 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?
“If anything happened to my mum or Tom I want us to be here close by to help them.
“Having the annexe has been an absolute game-changer for the family.
“Nanny and grandad are on the doorstep, it is great, it has changed our lives.
“It was a dream, and now it is a reality.”
Tom, who uses one of his annexe’s bedrooms as a home office, said: “Applications for annexes have become more popular, I think especially since Covid.
“When 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.
“It started off as a lot of offices and then it went from offices to a gym or something similar.
“With our annexe we have enough separation and privacy, but we can mind the grandchildren and help out with them, it’s perfect really.”