ᐅ Terraced House on a 240 sqm Plot – Fundamental Questions / Feasibility?
Created on: 11 Nov 2018 09:00
M
Mbk84
I have been following the forum for a while now, but this is my first post. After several years of searching in the Stuttgart metropolitan area, we suddenly have the opportunity to buy a relatively small plot of land on the edge of a new residential development.
Plot: 12m x 20m = 240sqm (2583 sqft); floor area ratio 0.4; max ridge height 9.5m (31 feet); max eaves height 6.0m (20 feet); roof pitch 35°-40°; 160,000 EUR
The plot can be built with a terraced house; to illustrate, I have attached the site plan.
To be able to roughly estimate the project overall, we have a few basic questions. Thank you very much in advance, your help would mean a lot to us!
1. Our budget is 560k. Is that realistic for a 135sqm house? Very roughly calculated: 170k for the plot, 50k for the basement, 300k for a solid masonry house from a builder (2,200 EUR per sqm x 135 sqm), 40k additional building costs. Is this estimate rather generous or tight? (We do have a buffer available.)
2. Does it make a big price difference whether we build 1.5 or 2.5 storeys?
3. Regarding the floor area ratio, is a 9x10m house plus a garage/parking space of 30sqm feasible? From what I understand, ancillary buildings may exceed the floor area ratio by 50%. 90sqm house < 0.4 x 240 + 30sqm < 0.5 x 0.4 x 240
Is there anything fundamental regarding costs for terraced houses that we might have overlooked?
Thank you very much in advance!
Plot: 12m x 20m = 240sqm (2583 sqft); floor area ratio 0.4; max ridge height 9.5m (31 feet); max eaves height 6.0m (20 feet); roof pitch 35°-40°; 160,000 EUR
The plot can be built with a terraced house; to illustrate, I have attached the site plan.
To be able to roughly estimate the project overall, we have a few basic questions. Thank you very much in advance, your help would mean a lot to us!
1. Our budget is 560k. Is that realistic for a 135sqm house? Very roughly calculated: 170k for the plot, 50k for the basement, 300k for a solid masonry house from a builder (2,200 EUR per sqm x 135 sqm), 40k additional building costs. Is this estimate rather generous or tight? (We do have a buffer available.)
2. Does it make a big price difference whether we build 1.5 or 2.5 storeys?
3. Regarding the floor area ratio, is a 9x10m house plus a garage/parking space of 30sqm feasible? From what I understand, ancillary buildings may exceed the floor area ratio by 50%. 90sqm house < 0.4 x 240 + 30sqm < 0.5 x 0.4 x 240
Is there anything fundamental regarding costs for terraced houses that we might have overlooked?
Thank you very much in advance!
We are currently building a terraced house with similar requirements (plot 14m wide (46 feet), roof pitch 30-35°, minimum 5m (16 feet) between houses). There are a few points about the terraced building method that we didn’t know beforehand, although some are not hard to understand.
- The ridge direction is reversed compared to the "standard" houses from general contractors/builders.
- On the ground floor, similar to a semi-detached house, you have a solid wall that gets no natural light; if you plan a garage, there might even be two.
- On the upper floor, you have to check where windows are allowed. Having two full stories makes this much easier.
- If your neighbor plans a garage on your boundary line, you need to coordinate the basement construction with them; otherwise, it will become more complicated and expensive.
Regarding point 1: I think the budget could work for 135 sqm (1453 sq ft).
However, don’t be misled by price quotes from general contractors/builders. Regardless of any design modifications, none of them could clearly show us adjustments based on the specific conditions.
Furthermore, as bookstar mentioned, the kitchen, outdoor area, and the required connection building are missing from those quotes.
Regarding point 2: Yes, it matters because of the height. In your case, it might be easier due to more challenging lighting conditions on the upper floor, possibly with a “smaller” additional cost.
Regarding point 3: I cannot say much since our architect handled and calculated this. The only thing you should check is whether the connection building at your site can be 3m (10 feet) wide to reach a total house width of 9m (30 feet).
This should not sound too negative. We are glad we chose this method. Although the selection process for a building partner took longer and we ultimately ended up with an architect, so far this has been a very good decision.
- The ridge direction is reversed compared to the "standard" houses from general contractors/builders.
- On the ground floor, similar to a semi-detached house, you have a solid wall that gets no natural light; if you plan a garage, there might even be two.
- On the upper floor, you have to check where windows are allowed. Having two full stories makes this much easier.
- If your neighbor plans a garage on your boundary line, you need to coordinate the basement construction with them; otherwise, it will become more complicated and expensive.
Regarding point 1: I think the budget could work for 135 sqm (1453 sq ft).
However, don’t be misled by price quotes from general contractors/builders. Regardless of any design modifications, none of them could clearly show us adjustments based on the specific conditions.
Furthermore, as bookstar mentioned, the kitchen, outdoor area, and the required connection building are missing from those quotes.
Regarding point 2: Yes, it matters because of the height. In your case, it might be easier due to more challenging lighting conditions on the upper floor, possibly with a “smaller” additional cost.
Regarding point 3: I cannot say much since our architect handled and calculated this. The only thing you should check is whether the connection building at your site can be 3m (10 feet) wide to reach a total house width of 9m (30 feet).
This should not sound too negative. We are glad we chose this method. Although the selection process for a building partner took longer and we ultimately ended up with an architect, so far this has been a very good decision.
Great, thank you very much for your replies so far, really great here
@Slava_S: Glad to hear you don’t regret your decision. Unfortunately, there is very little information about row houses here, let alone floor plans or examples.
May I ask if you could share your floor plan or the planned house elevation? You can also send it via private message. We’re still a bit in the dark about how the whole thing might look afterwards.
"You should check whether the connecting structure between the units is allowed to be 3m (10 feet) wide in order to reach a total house width of 9m (30 feet)." -> What do you mean by "connecting structure"? The original idea was actually 3m (10 feet) garage + 9m (30 feet) house = 12m (40 feet) plot width. I made a quick sketch and attached it.
The neighboring plot is already built on, and their garage borders directly on our plot. To what extent could this be a problem if we want to have a basement under our house?
P.S. The sketch is of course neither to scale nor 100% accurate
@Slava_S: Glad to hear you don’t regret your decision. Unfortunately, there is very little information about row houses here, let alone floor plans or examples.
May I ask if you could share your floor plan or the planned house elevation? You can also send it via private message. We’re still a bit in the dark about how the whole thing might look afterwards.
"You should check whether the connecting structure between the units is allowed to be 3m (10 feet) wide in order to reach a total house width of 9m (30 feet)." -> What do you mean by "connecting structure"? The original idea was actually 3m (10 feet) garage + 9m (30 feet) house = 12m (40 feet) plot width. I made a quick sketch and attached it.
The neighboring plot is already built on, and their garage borders directly on our plot. To what extent could this be a problem if we want to have a basement under our house?
P.S. The sketch is of course neither to scale nor 100% accurate
Mbk84 schrieb:
The neighboring plot is already built on, and the garage directly borders our property. To what extent is this a problem if we want to have a basement under our house?Because you would be digging a large hole right next to the garage’s foundation.
hanse987 schrieb:
Because you are digging a large hole right next to the garage foundation.Yes, I understand that. Does that mean extra support/bracing is required = more expensive? Or does this effectively rule out having a basement?
Similar topics