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Frank_Schuster12 Feb 2021 16:54Hello everyone,
We would like to build a house but have not yet found a suitable plot of land. Therefore, my parents suggested building a house on their property, as they would prefer a somewhat smaller garden anyway. Before we submit an inquiry to the building authority to see if the local development plan allows this, we would like to know if the idea is feasible at all.
My parents own a 1950s house in a 1930s residential zone with a relatively large south-facing garden. An extension is rather unlikely since we don’t know if the old building will remain standing for the next 50 years.
I have attached a drawing made with the help of Google Maps (Image 1), where the property is marked with a red outline. There is a garage and a garden shed on the property (yellow outlines). The front door faces the street side (north) in the center. I added a scale (10 meters (33 feet)) in red to give a sense of the size of the plot.
Do you have any inspiring ideas on how we could theoretically implement this project in the best way?
Our initial thought was to build a house in the lower-right (southeast) part of the plot and leave a continuous strip along the right property boundary as an access driveway to a carport. That way, the existing garage and garden shed of my parents could remain, and there would be separate entrances, as well as a nice south-west orientation of our garden. The front door could then face east, and the living room would face south towards the garden, so my parents and we would each have some privacy. I tried to sketch this once (Image 2).
What about the setback regulations (in North Rhine-Westphalia)? Is it true that we must keep a 3-meter (10 feet) distance from the neighboring property? Probably only a single-story house with a converted attic would be possible, right? A basement would then be necessary to have enough living space. We are planning for two children, and there is also the possibility that the second time we might have twins 🙂
What do you think of the plan, and do you have any suggestions or ideas? Thank you very much in advance! 🙂
Best regards,
Frank
We would like to build a house but have not yet found a suitable plot of land. Therefore, my parents suggested building a house on their property, as they would prefer a somewhat smaller garden anyway. Before we submit an inquiry to the building authority to see if the local development plan allows this, we would like to know if the idea is feasible at all.
My parents own a 1950s house in a 1930s residential zone with a relatively large south-facing garden. An extension is rather unlikely since we don’t know if the old building will remain standing for the next 50 years.
I have attached a drawing made with the help of Google Maps (Image 1), where the property is marked with a red outline. There is a garage and a garden shed on the property (yellow outlines). The front door faces the street side (north) in the center. I added a scale (10 meters (33 feet)) in red to give a sense of the size of the plot.
Do you have any inspiring ideas on how we could theoretically implement this project in the best way?
Our initial thought was to build a house in the lower-right (southeast) part of the plot and leave a continuous strip along the right property boundary as an access driveway to a carport. That way, the existing garage and garden shed of my parents could remain, and there would be separate entrances, as well as a nice south-west orientation of our garden. The front door could then face east, and the living room would face south towards the garden, so my parents and we would each have some privacy. I tried to sketch this once (Image 2).
What about the setback regulations (in North Rhine-Westphalia)? Is it true that we must keep a 3-meter (10 feet) distance from the neighboring property? Probably only a single-story house with a converted attic would be possible, right? A basement would then be necessary to have enough living space. We are planning for two children, and there is also the possibility that the second time we might have twins 🙂
What do you think of the plan, and do you have any suggestions or ideas? Thank you very much in advance! 🙂
Best regards,
Frank
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pagoni202012 Feb 2021 17:08I believe you should first contact the building authority before you even consider this. I wish you luck, but I’m afraid it might be difficult.
As far as I know, a 3-meter (10 feet) setback requirement applies in NRW as well, except for garages and carports. However, the building authority and/or the local development plan can confirm this for you.
Municipalities in NRW are required to publish their local development plans. Try searching for "Geoportal NRW" or "NRW development plan."
In the Geoportal, you can also measure plot sizes and distances.
If no development plan exists—common for older buildings—Section 34 of the Building Code applies.
This means you have to align with the neighboring buildings.
For you, this means if there is already a subdivided plot on the street, you can use its building boundaries as a reference.
What’s important from the building authority’s perspective is always the distance of the building to the street. If the street runs at an angle, this distance is always measured from the driveway of the plot to the rear building line—not simply horizontally across all plots.
If this fits, it will make it easier for you to obtain a building permit/planning permission.
Apart from that: the plot looks—at least from the screenshots—really quite small for two detached houses 🙁. I’d estimate about 600–700 sqm (6500–7500 sq ft)?
Municipalities in NRW are required to publish their local development plans. Try searching for "Geoportal NRW" or "NRW development plan."
In the Geoportal, you can also measure plot sizes and distances.
If no development plan exists—common for older buildings—Section 34 of the Building Code applies.
This means you have to align with the neighboring buildings.
For you, this means if there is already a subdivided plot on the street, you can use its building boundaries as a reference.
What’s important from the building authority’s perspective is always the distance of the building to the street. If the street runs at an angle, this distance is always measured from the driveway of the plot to the rear building line—not simply horizontally across all plots.
If this fits, it will make it easier for you to obtain a building permit/planning permission.
Apart from that: the plot looks—at least from the screenshots—really quite small for two detached houses 🙁. I’d estimate about 600–700 sqm (6500–7500 sq ft)?
Frank_Schuster schrieb:
What do you think of the plan, Distance. Only that. And of course, I join the wishes for you to have good luck in finding alternatives.
The sketch clearly shows that even without a floor area ratio or building coverage ratio, we are only talking about a playhouse here. Because the chances of it actually being realized are exactly zero, I can save myself the reference to the piano thread, where one could otherwise have studied the topic of “building on parents’ property.” But in this specific case, that would be a complete waste of time.
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