Hello everyone,
We are planning to build a new house and now have some questions regarding the zoning plan.
Maybe you can provide some concrete answers or estimates about the situation.
I will probably visit the local authority again on Friday to clarify some details more specifically.
A brief background and framework:
We own parcel number 2414 and the adjacent plot at the back, which is outlined in purple and marked with a circle for better identification.
The total plot area is approximately 750 sqm (8079 sq ft).
We currently live in the front house on parcel number 2414 and use the rear plot as a large garden.
The street to the north is not yet constructed but was planned for 2020.
Since the current house is an older building from the 1970s with two apartments, we would prefer to build new at the rear. Currently, with two children, we live in only 95 sqm (1023 sq ft). As my wife is self-employed and has a home office, the kids only have one shared bedroom, so it is quite cramped.
The street has been planned for many years; now the city has finally acquired the last parcel to enable its construction. According to the municipality, it is expected to be built next year.
So, we took a closer look at the zoning plan. Unfortunately, I am not very pleased with it.
I will try to organize the individual points and questions a bit.
Let’s see how far we get with this thread.
Attached is the relevant excerpt from the plan.
1. It is a mixed-use zone.
2. The maximum number of full stories is set to 1 (mandatory). This means I can only build one full story, and the attic floor may have a ceiling height of 2.2 m (7.2 ft) or more only on up to two-thirds of the area.
3. Roof pitch is specified as 22° - 28° according to the zoning regulations.
4. The important regulation states: “The height of knee walls, measured from the top of the ceiling to the intersection of the outer edge of the masonry with the top of the rafter, must not exceed 0.5 m (20 inches).”
So there is no much leeway here either. This means that the usable attic space will be significantly smaller than the ground floor.
5. Floor area ratio (FAR) = 0.25; I see this as uncritical for our project.
6. Plot ratio = 0.3; also uncritical for us.
7. According to the regulation: “Dormer extensions on main buildings are only permitted with flush-mounted windows.” For me, this means dormers are not allowed, only roof windows.
We had considered building a house with a ground floor plus upper floor. Also with some knee wall upstairs, but 0.5 m (20 inches) is quite tight. This causes a significant loss of usable area in the upper floor, so I would need to make the ground floor larger.
We are planning a house of about 130 sqm (1399 sq ft) for a family of four, including a home office.
Currently, we have three rough ideas:
1. Ground floor + upper floor with reduced area. So ground floor slightly larger and upper floor with knee wall. Ground floor maybe about 75 sqm (807 sq ft), upper floor about 60 sqm (646 sq ft). Roof pitch as steep as possible at 28°.
2. Alternatively, basement + ground floor with about 75 sqm (807 sq ft) each and possibly a “cold” attic and gable roof with 22°. In this case, the basement would need living rooms (children’s rooms/home office). Therefore, a basement with good insulation and large basement windows would be required.
3. Or a bungalow with about 125 sqm (1345 sq ft). Advantage: the total living space is slightly smaller as no stairs are needed and one bathroom is sufficient. No intermediate floor. Space under the roof can be used as storage. Disadvantage: large foundation slab and roof, so more plot area is lost.
How would you assess the three options in terms of cost?
We want to build as cost-effectively as possible, without unnecessary extras.
Additional relevant info: the house is planned to meet KFW40 energy standards. Either a controlled mechanical ventilation system or decentralized ventilation system will be installed.
We will definitely do some DIY work: plastering, flooring, electrical installations.
Do you have any other suggestions? Pros and cons?
We also once considered a multi-family house with 3 or 5 units, but after reviewing the zoning plan, this seems definitely off the table.
I expect there will be more threads later as our planning progresses in detail. This is just the initial starting point.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards,
Specki
We are planning to build a new house and now have some questions regarding the zoning plan.
Maybe you can provide some concrete answers or estimates about the situation.
I will probably visit the local authority again on Friday to clarify some details more specifically.
A brief background and framework:
We own parcel number 2414 and the adjacent plot at the back, which is outlined in purple and marked with a circle for better identification.
The total plot area is approximately 750 sqm (8079 sq ft).
We currently live in the front house on parcel number 2414 and use the rear plot as a large garden.
The street to the north is not yet constructed but was planned for 2020.
Since the current house is an older building from the 1970s with two apartments, we would prefer to build new at the rear. Currently, with two children, we live in only 95 sqm (1023 sq ft). As my wife is self-employed and has a home office, the kids only have one shared bedroom, so it is quite cramped.
The street has been planned for many years; now the city has finally acquired the last parcel to enable its construction. According to the municipality, it is expected to be built next year.
So, we took a closer look at the zoning plan. Unfortunately, I am not very pleased with it.
I will try to organize the individual points and questions a bit.
Let’s see how far we get with this thread.
Attached is the relevant excerpt from the plan.
1. It is a mixed-use zone.
2. The maximum number of full stories is set to 1 (mandatory). This means I can only build one full story, and the attic floor may have a ceiling height of 2.2 m (7.2 ft) or more only on up to two-thirds of the area.
3. Roof pitch is specified as 22° - 28° according to the zoning regulations.
4. The important regulation states: “The height of knee walls, measured from the top of the ceiling to the intersection of the outer edge of the masonry with the top of the rafter, must not exceed 0.5 m (20 inches).”
So there is no much leeway here either. This means that the usable attic space will be significantly smaller than the ground floor.
5. Floor area ratio (FAR) = 0.25; I see this as uncritical for our project.
6. Plot ratio = 0.3; also uncritical for us.
7. According to the regulation: “Dormer extensions on main buildings are only permitted with flush-mounted windows.” For me, this means dormers are not allowed, only roof windows.
We had considered building a house with a ground floor plus upper floor. Also with some knee wall upstairs, but 0.5 m (20 inches) is quite tight. This causes a significant loss of usable area in the upper floor, so I would need to make the ground floor larger.
We are planning a house of about 130 sqm (1399 sq ft) for a family of four, including a home office.
Currently, we have three rough ideas:
1. Ground floor + upper floor with reduced area. So ground floor slightly larger and upper floor with knee wall. Ground floor maybe about 75 sqm (807 sq ft), upper floor about 60 sqm (646 sq ft). Roof pitch as steep as possible at 28°.
2. Alternatively, basement + ground floor with about 75 sqm (807 sq ft) each and possibly a “cold” attic and gable roof with 22°. In this case, the basement would need living rooms (children’s rooms/home office). Therefore, a basement with good insulation and large basement windows would be required.
3. Or a bungalow with about 125 sqm (1345 sq ft). Advantage: the total living space is slightly smaller as no stairs are needed and one bathroom is sufficient. No intermediate floor. Space under the roof can be used as storage. Disadvantage: large foundation slab and roof, so more plot area is lost.
How would you assess the three options in terms of cost?
We want to build as cost-effectively as possible, without unnecessary extras.
Additional relevant info: the house is planned to meet KFW40 energy standards. Either a controlled mechanical ventilation system or decentralized ventilation system will be installed.
We will definitely do some DIY work: plastering, flooring, electrical installations.
Do you have any other suggestions? Pros and cons?
We also once considered a multi-family house with 3 or 5 units, but after reviewing the zoning plan, this seems definitely off the table.
I expect there will be more threads later as our planning progresses in detail. This is just the initial starting point.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards,
Specki
kaho674 schrieb:
Need clarification: the red house is still not there?! That’s where the new building is supposed to go. Now I get it. Sorry for the late realization. Exactly.
No problem.
On the topic:
In terms of cost, I also see a bungalow with a pitched roof as the most affordable option. A basement is out of the question. For saving space, an attic conversion with a child's room, office, and technical room upstairs might be the best. However, this would require a staircase. I could imagine that a cold roof with a larger floor area might not differ much in cost compared to a warm roof with a smaller floor area.
In terms of cost, I also see a bungalow with a pitched roof as the most affordable option. A basement is out of the question. For saving space, an attic conversion with a child's room, office, and technical room upstairs might be the best. However, this would require a staircase. I could imagine that a cold roof with a larger floor area might not differ much in cost compared to a warm roof with a smaller floor area.
At the moment, we tend to build the storage room, technical room, and home office on the upper level.
A small wooden staircase would be sufficient, since there’s no need to go upstairs frequently.
We prefer this to building a single-story house with a cold roof, as the latter would result in losing a lot of usable floor space. We want to keep the garden as large as possible. So far, we have been using all of this area as garden space.
No, it won’t be a standard design. Our requirements are just too “special” for that.
Besides, it would also have to comply with the local building permit / planning permission, which is rather unrealistic. We’d rather build with a local provider who isn’t too expensive but can implement our ideas and deliver a high energy efficiency standard.
A small wooden staircase would be sufficient, since there’s no need to go upstairs frequently.
We prefer this to building a single-story house with a cold roof, as the latter would result in losing a lot of usable floor space. We want to keep the garden as large as possible. So far, we have been using all of this area as garden space.
No, it won’t be a standard design. Our requirements are just too “special” for that.
Besides, it would also have to comply with the local building permit / planning permission, which is rather unrealistic. We’d rather build with a local provider who isn’t too expensive but can implement our ideas and deliver a high energy efficiency standard.
Specki schrieb:
No, it won’t be a standard design. Our ideas are just too "special" for that. Ok – I’m also always in favor of custom designs. Specki schrieb:
And it would also have to comply with the zoning plan. That’s rather unrealistic. Nope, almost any bungalow with an unfinished cold roof fits, as long as it stays under 188 m² (2024 sq ft) of floor area, or did I miss something?Specki schrieb:
At the moment, we are leaning towards building a storage room, utility room, and home office upstairs.
A small wooden staircase would be enough since you don’t need to go upstairs frequently.... that sounds doable!
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