ᐅ General Question About Building Planning Without a Development Plan

Hi everyone,

I have a general question: If you want to buy a property with a large plot of land or just a plot, and there is no zoning plan, how can you find out as quickly as possible whether building is allowed there? Can an architect usually give a reliable assessment, or does this only work with a building permit pre-application / planning pre-application? The latter can take some time, and by then a listed property might already be sold...

I would appreciate it if someone here could help me understand this better.
Thank you very much.

P.S.:
I hope I have posted this question in the right subforum.

Lennard schrieb:

If you want to buy a property with a large plot of land or just a plot and there is no zoning plan, how can you find out as quickly as possible whether building is allowed there? Can an architect assess this with a high degree of certainty,

Tomorrow is Monday, so you can call the building authority again. Many municipalities also have zoning plans available online. An architect has access to the same sources as you do – they can only read the zoning plan faster and in more detail. Many experienced laypeople here can also interpret key indicators.

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Thank you very much for your help. This is also how I understood it in case a development plan is available. However, my concern is a situation where no development plan exists. In that case, §34 should apply, right? If that is correct, then the above question refers precisely to this case. I would appreciate any assistance you could provide on this.

If it is a 34-type development zone, the corresponding regulations apply. The building coverage ratio (floor area ratio) can be roughly estimated using Google Maps and geoportals, and the number of storeys can be inferred from the surrounding buildings. Additionally, the usual setback distances should be considered. With this information, you can get a fairly good estimate of what is possible.

Great, you should be able to rely well on an assessment from the architect. Since I would like to build a bit more understanding, I have two follow-up questions:

1. How can I tell if an area falls under section 34? Is this automatically the case when no development plan / building permit is available?

2. For many properties with a building, often only the plot in the rear (is that the right term?) is buildable, because on the street side, to the left and right, there are already other buildings. This certainly makes things a bit more complicated. How reliable is an architect’s assessment in such cases?

Unplanned inner areas apply only within towns, and there can also be zones considered as outer areas within the inner area. The boundary to the outer area runs along the development. For example, a parcel of land may partly lie in the outer area and therefore be only partially available for building.

Geoportals or cadastral extracts can be helpful in this regard. Development in the second row may, under certain circumstances, be denied.