ᐅ Terraced House Neighbor Without a Basement?

Hello dear forum members,

I have been reading quietly for a long time but haven’t found an answer to my specific question here in the forum. Maybe you can help me.

We are considering buying a townhouse plot, just under 200 sqm (about 2,150 sq ft), so it’s very small. For that reason, we would like to build a basement to make better use of the space. The basement must be constructed as a “white tank” (watertight concrete structure), which makes it quite expensive. One of the neighbors probably wants to build without a basement, the other with one. The neighbor without a basement is the current owner and may prefer that we also build without a basement; he might even make his decision to sell to us dependent on this. Because of this, we want to carefully consider the purchase, as we want to have a good neighborhood.

Now my questions:
- If we build with a basement, will this cause a construction delay for his house?
- Since it’s a townhouse, we would need to use his property for excavation, about 3 m (10 ft), right?

Kind regards
B.

Does the floor area ratio include the basement for a 200m2 (2153 sq ft) building?

tomtom79 schrieb:
For 200m2 (2153 sq ft), does the floor area ratio even include the basement?

Yes, that would not be a problem.

AltUndNeu schrieb:
I can’t find an existing answer to my specific question here in the forum.

That’s not true. Just the search terms "with basement," "without basement," or "11ant semi-detached house" will lead you to loads of posts where a) I explain my point of view, and b) the “heretics” disagreeing with me do the same. To summarize: a) Semi-detached and other terraced houses are poorly suited for planners who don’t coordinate with each other; especially the mixed substructure (one house with a basement, another without) is a major weak point; a shared planner doesn’t force you to build cloned or mirror-image houses, nor necessarily the same construction method, but it always helps reduce potential complications. Or b) 11ant paints a very negative picture, while on Melmac it’s all no problem at all.

tomtom79 schrieb:
Does the floor area ratio even include basements for a 200m2 (2,150 sq ft) house?

Don’t confuse any newcomers here 🙂
You probably mean the floor area ratio, and a classic fully underground basement is generally irrelevant for that calculation.

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11ant schrieb:
Don't worry about that. Just searching for the terms "with basement," "without basement," or "11ant duplex" will lead you to numerous posts where a) I explain my viewpoint, and b) the "skeptics" of my opinion respond as well. To summarize: a) duplexes and other row houses are poorly suited for planners who are not coordinating with each other; especially the uneven underground construction (Meier with a basement and Müller without) is a weak point; having a single planner does not require identical or mirrored houses, nor necessarily the same construction method, but it always helps to reduce points of conflict. Or b) 11ant paints a grim picture, while on Melmac it's all no problem at all.

Now don’t confuse any beginners here 🙂
You probably mean the floor area ratio, and for that, a fully underground basement is irrelevant.

Hello again,

Thanks, as I said, I’m familiar with the posts on this topic and I know what a floor area ratio is, but most discussions here focus on duplex houses. This is about a specific case where, in a mid-terrace house, one neighbor wants one option and the other neighbor prefers another. So it’s a very special situation. I want to alleviate the concerns of the neighbor without a basement as much as possible before they commit to a decision without better knowledge.

I’m less interested in opinions and more in yes/no answers to two very clearly formulated questions.

I have already been a builder before and am familiar with most topics except for basements and terraced housing. But I still know what a floor area ratio is :-)

Best regards,
B.

Terraced houses and other row houses are poorly suited for planners who are unaware of each other; especially the heterogeneous groundwork (Meier with and Müller without a basement) is a weak spot. Having a common planner does not require cloned or mirrored houses, nor necessarily the same construction method, but it always helps to reduce potential complications.

That is exactly why I want to clarify this before we even buy the plot, and so I have contacted all the owners in the row. I want to live there in peace. Ideally, everyone wants a basement, and all the houses are built by the same company. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with this.