Hello everyone,
The time is slowly approaching. Our municipality will be selling building plots in the new development area starting mid-March. Since we are a family with two children, we have a good chance of securing a plot.
I have been thinking about this for a long time and now need your opinion. Since I am a teacher, I definitely need an office. My husband is also working more and more from home, so the room could be a bit larger. The house is planned to be an energy-efficient house standard 40/40+. Maybe it would be better to build a separate apartment for the office right away? That way, we might benefit twice from the subsidy. Of course, a separate apartment costs more (50,000? 100,000?), but it also offers more flexibility...
Does anyone here use a separate apartment as an office? How large should the unit be? What is clear: bathroom + kitchenette + separate entrance. A room size of 16–20m2 (170–215 sq ft) would be completely sufficient for us (+ WC with shower + small kitchenette (2m2 / 21.5 sq ft)).
What do you think?
The time is slowly approaching. Our municipality will be selling building plots in the new development area starting mid-March. Since we are a family with two children, we have a good chance of securing a plot.
I have been thinking about this for a long time and now need your opinion. Since I am a teacher, I definitely need an office. My husband is also working more and more from home, so the room could be a bit larger. The house is planned to be an energy-efficient house standard 40/40+. Maybe it would be better to build a separate apartment for the office right away? That way, we might benefit twice from the subsidy. Of course, a separate apartment costs more (50,000? 100,000?), but it also offers more flexibility...
Does anyone here use a separate apartment as an office? How large should the unit be? What is clear: bathroom + kitchenette + separate entrance. A room size of 16–20m2 (170–215 sq ft) would be completely sufficient for us (+ WC with shower + small kitchenette (2m2 / 21.5 sq ft)).
What do you think?
W
WilderSueden16 Jan 2021 21:48Kati.com schrieb:
Two parking spaces per residential unit. We want a double garage anyway. I think the driveway (minimum 5m (16.5 feet) paved area) could count as a double parking space 😉. Parking spaces arranged one behind the other are often not accepted because the rear spot is inaccessible if a car is parked in front.
Kati.com schrieb:
But is it allowed for it to be additionally directly connected to the main apartment (door)? That should not be a problem. Two of my aunts had a setup where there was a granny flat in the basement with a separate external entrance, but also a door inside the stairwell so the grandmother could come inside and see the grandchildren without leaving the house.
Basically, I see little advantage in adding the granny flat on the ground floor. You would need a kitchen and bathroom in the separate unit, which takes space and adds costs. Overall, your ground floor would become quite large, which also affects the upper floor. We are currently planning with a study downstairs and a combined study/guest/extra kids’ room upstairs, and we already have the issue that the ground floor is half a room too small and the upper floor half a room too big. A full second residential unit requires even more space.
Oh, and about sharing an office: I wouldn’t recommend it. When working from home, you end up making quite a few calls, sometimes longer ones. Having peace and quiet is definitely important.
Kati.com schrieb:
Some of those have a slight slope (I would say 1–1.5m (3.3–5 feet) height difference within the building plot). To quote the basement rule from @11ant: For every 20cm (8 inches) of height difference, you pay for 10% of the basement volume without building it. At 1.5m (5 feet), a slab foundation usually no longer makes sense, and at 1m (3.3 feet) it’s questionable—especially considering your plans to fit a granny flat on the ground floor.
Don’t compromise on your plans. Often, the required space on the ground floor is larger than on the upper floor.
It’s rare that the plot allows for a suitable extension. If the secondary apartment is intended for elderly people with special needs, your space requirements will be different.
Check what is possible once you have your plot.
I wouldn’t recommend bending yourself to accommodate a “maybe useful someday” idea or flexibility.
Regardless, I would plan for two home offices. Smaller is better. With one large room, you might disturb each other.
I have no idea if the driveway can be approved as a parking space. Usually, this would make the garage inaccessible.
It’s rare that the plot allows for a suitable extension. If the secondary apartment is intended for elderly people with special needs, your space requirements will be different.
Check what is possible once you have your plot.
I wouldn’t recommend bending yourself to accommodate a “maybe useful someday” idea or flexibility.
Regardless, I would plan for two home offices. Smaller is better. With one large room, you might disturb each other.
I have no idea if the driveway can be approved as a parking space. Usually, this would make the garage inaccessible.
WilderSueden schrieb:
To quote @11ant’s rule regarding basements: For every 20cm (8 inches) of height difference, you pay 10% of the basement’s cost even if you don’t build it. 11ant schrieb:
The rule is commonly summarized (very briefly) as: "With a two-meter (6.5 feet) height difference within the buildable area, an unbuilt basement costs practically the same as a built one and simply offers no return for those costs." So: “to not build it” is incorrect; it should say: “whether built or not.”
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I generally think it’s a good idea to have a separate unit for the offices. However, I must also say that I don’t agree with doing this just to qualify for premiums or subsidies. Taxpayers like me or us have to support this, and if additional rental living space is not created right away, I don’t see why I should help finance it.
Having a separate unit is sensible in itself, as it helps create distance from the residential area. But what about if children need to be looked after in the main dwelling? As a teacher, would you want to unlock two front doors in the evening just to quickly grade tests?
As others have already said: it’s difficult enough to meet your own needs on one property — so what is the practical space left for an accessory apartment? For the two of you, a finished attic should be sufficient, which hardly impacts the budget. So why take on the burden of an accessory dwelling unit?
Having a separate unit is sensible in itself, as it helps create distance from the residential area. But what about if children need to be looked after in the main dwelling? As a teacher, would you want to unlock two front doors in the evening just to quickly grade tests?
As others have already said: it’s difficult enough to meet your own needs on one property — so what is the practical space left for an accessory apartment? For the two of you, a finished attic should be sufficient, which hardly impacts the budget. So why take on the burden of an accessory dwelling unit?
Good morning,
thank you for the numerous responses.
Yes... that would not be a dealbreaker for the second residential unit.
In our apartment building (same municipality, built in 2012), there are double parking spaces in the underground garage. The cars (owned by the same apartment owner) are parked one behind the other and block each other’s exit. Wouldn’t that be a similar situation?
Since I don’t have mandatory office hours, I can schedule my work time independently. Usually, I work in the evening when my husband is no longer working and can look after the children.
Also, my husband only needs the home office occasionally. Most of the time, he works on site at the company office.
The guidelines from KfW do not state anywhere that the second residential unit must be rented out. I think that was also the intention of the lawmakers. Some people rent small apartments specifically to have a quiet place to work. We do not want to set up children’s rooms there, but private office spaces.
In old age, one would still be more flexible and could, for example, offer a separate living space to a caregiver instead of moving directly into a nursing home.
As mentioned above: my husband and I never work at the same time. One of us always takes responsibility for the children.
thank you for the numerous responses.
WilderSueden schrieb:
Parking spaces arranged one behind the other are often not accepted because the rear one is inaccessible if the front one is occupied.
Yes... that would not be a dealbreaker for the second residential unit.
In our apartment building (same municipality, built in 2012), there are double parking spaces in the underground garage. The cars (owned by the same apartment owner) are parked one behind the other and block each other’s exit. Wouldn’t that be a similar situation?
haydee schrieb:
Regardless, I would plan for two home offices, preferably smaller ones. With one large office, you might disturb each other.
Since I don’t have mandatory office hours, I can schedule my work time independently. Usually, I work in the evening when my husband is no longer working and can look after the children.
Also, my husband only needs the home office occasionally. Most of the time, he works on site at the company office.
ypg schrieb:
However, I must also say that I don’t think it’s right to do this just for subsidies or grants. I or we as taxpayers have to support this, and if no additional rental housing is being created immediately, I don’t see why I should help finance it.
The guidelines from KfW do not state anywhere that the second residential unit must be rented out. I think that was also the intention of the lawmakers. Some people rent small apartments specifically to have a quiet place to work. We do not want to set up children’s rooms there, but private office spaces.
In old age, one would still be more flexible and could, for example, offer a separate living space to a caregiver instead of moving directly into a nursing home.
ypg schrieb:
But what if children need to be cared for in the main apartment? As a teacher, do you want to unlock two front doors in the evening when you just want to quickly correct dictations?
As mentioned above: my husband and I never work at the same time. One of us always takes responsibility for the children.
Kati.com schrieb:
As I mentioned above: my husband and I never work together.Well, then one room should be enough.Similar topics