Hello everyone,
I’ve been following the forum for a while now, and finally, we’re ready to build our own home!
We have already found a very nice plot of land, but it is planned to be divided into two lots. There are already two interested buyers, namely us and our future building partner (who will also be building with the same construction company).
Now, the question is about access. Attached you can see the first site plan from the architect. Our plot would be the plot on the right. The land will be subdivided into three parcels, with both buyers jointly purchasing and sharing the small “access strip” 50/50 as a driveway.
Alternatively, we could purchase the entire right plot, and our neighbors would then have to create their access from the other road to the south. According to the building authority, both options are possible.
If we choose the option shown in the attachment, we would have to buy less land. The architect said that the right plot (with a small border adjustment) could be reduced to a maximum of 500sqm (5,382 sq ft). This is already somewhat expensive for us, but manageable. With the shared driveway, our plot would be “only” about 420sqm (4,521 sq ft), but we would presumably have to pay for half of the driveway. We were also told that we might save some costs on utility connections with a shared driveway.
Here are the questions we have:
Has anyone had experience with this kind of subdivision and could offer us advice? Of course, such an arrangement requires more communication with the neighbor. Also, we couldn’t use the driveway area ourselves for parking or anything like that. The neighbors would always be driving directly in front of our house. But financially, there might be advantages.
I would greatly appreciate any help and your thoughts! And if you have any general suggestions about the site plan, feel free to share those as well! (:
Best regards,
Fyddles
I’ve been following the forum for a while now, and finally, we’re ready to build our own home!
We have already found a very nice plot of land, but it is planned to be divided into two lots. There are already two interested buyers, namely us and our future building partner (who will also be building with the same construction company).
Now, the question is about access. Attached you can see the first site plan from the architect. Our plot would be the plot on the right. The land will be subdivided into three parcels, with both buyers jointly purchasing and sharing the small “access strip” 50/50 as a driveway.
Alternatively, we could purchase the entire right plot, and our neighbors would then have to create their access from the other road to the south. According to the building authority, both options are possible.
If we choose the option shown in the attachment, we would have to buy less land. The architect said that the right plot (with a small border adjustment) could be reduced to a maximum of 500sqm (5,382 sq ft). This is already somewhat expensive for us, but manageable. With the shared driveway, our plot would be “only” about 420sqm (4,521 sq ft), but we would presumably have to pay for half of the driveway. We were also told that we might save some costs on utility connections with a shared driveway.
Here are the questions we have:
- How does the agreement with the neighbor work regarding the construction of the driveway? Could it become expensive for us if, for example, expensive materials are required?
- Is there really a cost saving on utility connections?
- How much does subdividing the land cost? Both in general and specifically for dividing it into three parcels?
Has anyone had experience with this kind of subdivision and could offer us advice? Of course, such an arrangement requires more communication with the neighbor. Also, we couldn’t use the driveway area ourselves for parking or anything like that. The neighbors would always be driving directly in front of our house. But financially, there might be advantages.
I would greatly appreciate any help and your thoughts! And if you have any general suggestions about the site plan, feel free to share those as well! (:
Best regards,
Fyddles
Maria16 schrieb:
Besides that, I’m curious (I’m not familiar with this!) about how the setback distances of their house would look, which might be on the shared parcel? No problem. This could be secured through an easement.
Maria16 schrieb:
And what would actually happen if the neighbor sells and the buyer doesn’t want to purchase the access right—can the new owner be forced to take it along with the maintenance obligations? No problem. This could be legally fixed by registering it in the land register.
But I fully agree with everything you wrote in #2. If it is at all avoidable, a shared access should not be created. In my opinion, it is even completely inappropriate here, as the plot is then surrounded on three sides by roads.
Fyddles schrieb:
You’re right in a way, except that we wouldn’t be allowed to use it; otherwise, there is very little advantage for them. You mentioned that the subdivision has not yet taken place. Assuming the neighbor wants a larger plot, you could divide it differently:
The surveying costs would also be somewhat lower then.
Let me put myself in the neighbor’s shoes on the left side of the plan:
1. My plot does not have any development access issues, even without this shared driveway.
2. I will still have enough south-facing garden space if I place my driveway there; it even leads to a quieter street.
3. It’s not my problem to adjust the right side of your plot to fit your budget.
Or, as Karsten often says: Rule number one, everyone has their own. I would see the benefits of this deal as mainly or entirely in your favor.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
1. My plot does not have any development access issues, even without this shared driveway.
2. I will still have enough south-facing garden space if I place my driveway there; it even leads to a quieter street.
3. It’s not my problem to adjust the right side of your plot to fit your budget.
Or, as Karsten often says: Rule number one, everyone has their own. I would see the benefits of this deal as mainly or entirely in your favor.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Fyddles schrieb:
We found a few infill plots, but we thought that if someone wanted to sell, they would advertise it. However, your experience obviously shows that this is not always the case! My impression here in our area is that in the “older new development areas” (from the 1960s to the 1980s) there are some infill plots where the owners bought the land decades ago (or possibly have always had that small piece of land as a field) and at the time they came to some kind of agreement with the local municipality regarding infrastructure development, etc. Since then, the plot “just exists” but is neither needed nor sold, because selling would require more effort for the now older owners than simply keeping it as it is. When nice, younger people come along and ask whether they might buy it, some owners might seriously consider it for the first time and conclude that none of their heirs will want it anyway, or that the adjacent road will soon be renovated and they don’t want to deal with the financial burden if they’re not using the land, and so on, and then become willing to sell after all.
Yosan schrieb:
My impression here in our area is that in "older new development zones" (from the 1960s to 1980s) there are some building gaps where the owners simply bought the plots decades ago Or like in this thread: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/kosten-für-Baugrundstück-richtig-einschaetzen.30394/page-2#post-311748
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Maria16 schrieb:
Easement and land register entry cost money again, right? Yes, I estimate around 500€ (about 550 USD). But I think we agree that even if you could save 5-10K€ (5,500-11,000 USD) with shared development, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
Fyddles schrieb:
How expensive is subdividing the property? Generally, and then subdividing into three parcels? That depends on the number of subdivision parts, land value, boundary length, and lot size. Rough estimate: 2-3K€ (2,200-3,300 USD).
11ant schrieb:
Let me put myself in the neighbor’s shoes on the left side: If they aren’t watching every penny, they might be happy to get more land for their corner bungalow—of course, not the area from #1. That’s why in #19 I shifted the shared boundary by 3m (about 10 feet), which roughly corresponds to the area for the access road.
Fyddles schrieb:
The architect said that the right property (with a small boundary adjustment) can be reduced to a maximum of 500sqm. One would have to ask for the reasons. Based on the facts revealed here, in my opinion, the boundary could be shifted an additional 3m (about 10 feet) to the east. It would also be possible to divide the total area into three building plots. However, the map excerpt is too small for proper assessment. Presumably, there is no zoning plan/planning permission, so according to §34 of the German Building Code, actual building boundaries could come into play.
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