ᐅ Zoning Regulations for Semi-Detached Houses

Hello,

I am interested in a plot of land where I would like to build a semi-detached house together with an acquaintance. However, there are some regulations in the development plan that make me a bit uncertain. What kind of house style would be suitable here?

The regulations are as follows:

- Maximum allowed number of full stories,
- Floor area ratio (FAR) of 0.4 for semi-detached houses,
- Base wall height up to 0.3 m (1 foot) and eave height up to 4.0 m (13 feet), measured from the top edge of the roadway,

- Gable and shed roofs with equal pitch on both main roof surfaces,
- Roof pitch for gable roofs between 28° and 48°, and for shed roofs between 15° and 48°,
- Red roof covering according to RAL color specifications,
- Exterior walls at least 50% red facing brickwork according to RAL color specifications

Hausbau61 schrieb:

I am interested in a plot where I would like to build a semi-detached house together with a friend.

That makes a lot of sense. A semi-detached house has TWO units, so it is best to build it as a whole, meaning it should be jointly planned.

Hausbau61 schrieb:

However, there are some regulations in the development plan that puzzle me a bit. What kind of architectural style would be suitable here?
The regulations are:
- Maximum allowed number of floors as one full story,
- Site coverage ratio of 0.4 for semi-detached houses,
- Plinth height maximum 0.3 m (1 foot) and eaves height maximum 4.0 m (13 feet), measured from the top edge of the roadway,
- Gable and shed roofs with the same pitch on both main roof surfaces,
- Roof pitch of gable roofs between 28° and 48° and of shed roofs between 15° and 48°,

One full story means the number of full floors; above the ground floor only recessed stories or attic floors are allowed, which according to regional building codes may be at most two-thirds or three-quarters the size of the ground floor. The building footprint for semi-detached houses must not exceed 40% of the plot area. The ground floor level should not exceed the road surface by more than 0.3 m (1 foot). I see buildings here with pitched roofs as gable roofs, probably with no more than about 1 m (3 feet) knee walls, or recessed floors with a gently sloping shed roof. Furthermore, the style appears to be Westphalian rustic:

Hausbau61 schrieb:

- Red roof covering according to RAL color specifications,
- Exterior walls at least 50% in red facing brick according to RAL color specifications

So, fully or partially brick-clad. The roof covering may also be brown or purple if the color code falls within the RAL 3000 series, which is formally classified as “red” regardless of the actual appearance. Typical of council regulations without much practical knowledge, but never mind: it could be worse. At least these building rules are written clearly enough for lawyers to understand.

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

First of all, thank you very much for the quick response. I am really new to this field and this is my first time dealing with a development plan.

Is it normal for there to be so many regulations? It seems a bit strange to me. We would like to build a semi-detached house in the style of an urban villa, but from what I understand, this might not be possible—or is it?

Or what kind of style would be allowed here that doesn’t involve so many roof slopes?

What colors would be possible, for example? I would prefer not to have a red roof. Ideally, I would like anthracite or something similar.

You can forget about anthracite.

@11ant has already provided the answer. Just read it carefully once again.

It is not unusual for development plans to be quite detailed. They are meant to ensure a uniform urban appearance.

Hausbau61 schrieb:

Is it normal to have so many regulations? It seems a bit strange to me.

Development plans are usually quite detailed. Sometimes they are stricter with many requirements, and other times they allow more flexibility. Things like building boundaries, setback distances, maximum heights, floor area ratio, and plot ratio can be found in every development plan.

You can understand the basic aspects yourself, but a professional should handle the finer details.

Hausbau61 schrieb:

We would like to build a semi-detached house in the style of an urban villa, [...] I would prefer not to have a red roof. Anthracite or something similar would be my favorite.

hanse987 schrieb:

You can figure out the basic things yourself, but for the finer details, a professional should step in.

Whereas a "urban villa" or anthracite as a shade of red here wouldn’t be a fine detail, but hopeless – even if you took it with Rolf Bossi all the way to the highest court 🙂

Hausbau61 schrieb:

Is it normal to have so many regulations? It seems a bit strange to me.

I’ll say it again gladly: be glad you only have these, and that any assessor will recognize them as clear and unambiguous. We often see ones here that not even the most experienced herbal witch would make sense of—even at full moon. I have already read what amount to true crime novels just about floating height restrictions that are hardly resolvable at first instance. Some zoning plan authors only lose their shame threshold when looking at the facial expression of garden gnomes.

Hausbau61 schrieb:

Or what style would be possible here at all so that I don’t have so many sloping ceilings?

As @Ysop*** already mentioned, I have already (exhaustively) answered the style options. You don’t have many sloping ceilings; with a gable roof you have two, and with a shed roof only one. If you mean the proportion of areas without full standing height: that is unavoidable with a non-full-height upper floor. But the value of a living space is not measured by whether you could put a broom closet in every corner. By the way, at the very beginning of post #2 I hid a search phrase for you; from the same source you can also read up on this aspect ("How the knee wall affects window placement in the attic") and find your way to me.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/