ᐅ Procedure for Building a New Single-Family Home on an Existing Plot of Land

Created on: 18 Nov 2022 07:55

Hello everyone,

I know no one has a crystal ball here, but I would still like to hear your opinions:

We have just purchased a plot of land in Hesse, currently live cheaply, and have no urgent time pressure to build (although sooner is always better), except for the 5-year building obligation required by the municipality, which, however, can be extended by 1-2 years for justified reasons. We have slowly started planning and would like to possibly have the completed plans along with the building permit for our new single-family home ready to go, so we can react relatively quickly.

My assessment is that construction prices and interest rates will change little in 2023, even if they might stabilize at a high level. How 2024 or 2025 will look, of course, no one knows. But what is your feeling:
1. Rush the planning and possibly take advantage of a small "interest dip" in 2023 for financing and start with the belief that neither interest rates nor prices will significantly fall in the medium term, and waiting is just lost time.
2. Plan completely calmly, continue to build up equity, and assume that conditions for a new build may improve by the end of 2024 or possibly 2025.

If things become more concrete soon, I would be happy to provide more information for planning and share your feedback.
I welcome any questions and opinions 🙂

Best regards

K a t j a23 Jan 2023 18:01

#67

mayglow schrieb:

I don’t quite understand that now, but maybe it’s more about terminology?

You can find something like this on Google, by the way:

Floors are considered above-ground floors if the average height of their ceiling edges is more than 1.40 m (4.6 feet) above the ground surface; otherwise, they are basements.

11ant23 Jan 2023 18:28

#68

mayglow schrieb:

I don’t quite understand, but maybe it’s more about terminology? I think usually, when referring to a basement on a slope, it doesn’t mean a fully underground floor. Instead, one side of the floor is more or less embedded into the slope (=> that side counts as the basement), while the other side on the same level has a ground-level exit.

A "basement" according to my basement rule means actually using a floor-height amplitude of the terrain elevations within the building footprint as a full floor, rather than wasting the equivalent construction cost on earthworks and slope stabilization measures. In short: if you’re already outlining the house with man-high L-shaped retaining walls, you might as well create usable space inside them (preferably designed as living space).

mayglow schrieb:

That means if the slope roughly fits, possibly with a few steps, you have the entrance on the street side at the "ground floor" and on the garden side at the "basement level" (or vice versa, depending on the slope). Whether that counts legally as a basement special floor or just a regular full floor depends, among other things, on how deep you have to dig on average...

K a t j a schrieb:

Floors are considered above ground if their ceiling edges protrude on average more than 1.40 m (4 feet 7 inches) above the terrain surface; otherwise, they are basement floors.
An ideal basement living space in this sense protrudes enough out of the terrain so that, on the downhill side, window sills are about normal height well above the ground level, and on the uphill (street) side, the top of the floor structure is positioned so that the sill plate remains dry even during heavy rain. For doorways or floor-to-ceiling windows, "light wells" are needed.

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

Dachshund9023 Jan 2023 19:41

#69

Thank you all for your continued interesting and insightful comments!

I’m looking forward to seeing what hopefully will be available by next week.

Basically, everything seems feasible on our plot:
- Basement (possibly with a livable section / natural daylight)
- "Mixed solution" (see post #58 by Katja)
- No basement at all (which I consider rather unlikely)

For me personally, the only real drawback of a full basement might be the accessibility from the living area/kitchen to the garden. We have communicated this wish to the architect as well. If this cannot be implemented well, a "mixed solution" could become interesting. Or not every wish will be fulfilled 😉

11ant schrieb:

Good idea – and otherwise I also see parallels with this peaceful hillside plot and the plot of @JayneCobb https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissentwurf-efh-hanglage.37183/ – by the way, I argued there for living with a panoramic view and sleeping near the garden exit

I find the solution with a basement under the garage and using the lower ground floor for living space an interesting approach; we’ll keep it in mind.

Best regards

Sunshine38723 Jan 2023 19:45

#70

According to Paragraph 2, Section 4, Sentence 1 of the Lower Saxony Building Code, a full floor is only considered as such if the clear height is 2.20m (7.2 ft) or more over at least two-thirds of the floor area. This allows for some quite unusual constructions in our building area (less popular with the neighbors), as no eaves height is specified. For example, in rural areas, a 9m (29.5 ft) tall building can be constructed that looks like it has three floors, although only one floor is officially permitted (full floor, recessed floor with less than two-thirds of the full floor area, non-full floor below 2.2m (7.2 ft) added on top). Or the latest highlight at the entrance to the development is a four-story apartment building in an area designated for two full floors (floor below 2.2m (7.2 ft) for garages, building services, and bicycles; full floor; full floor; recessed floor). It reaches the allowed maximum height of exactly 12m (39.4 ft) and looks like a block with four stories. What I mean by this is that German building regulations are quite generous when there is no maximum ridge height but only a full floor restriction.

hanghaus202323 Jan 2023 20:05

#71

Has the road already been constructed? Or is there a plan for it? Preferably including elevation details?

ypg23 Jan 2023 20:45

#72

Dachshund90 schrieb:

and the basement for living space

Exactly! Avoid the term cellar; call it the underground floor and do not use the term upper floor.

ᐅ Procedure for Building a New Single-Family Home on an Existing Plot of Land

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