ᐅ Build a Semi-Detached House on Your Own?

Hello,

In 2021, I was able to reserve a building plot in a new development area for a semi-detached house. The release of the development area is planned for autumn 2022. The goal is to move in by autumn 2023.

So far, no neighbor has been found for the adjacent plot.

I can’t wait much longer because I need to award the contract for the basement excavation. Of course, I would like to plan together with a neighbor.

The notarization appointment for the semi-detached house plot is scheduled for January.

I plan to wait for a neighbor as long as possible. Otherwise, due to the fixed move-in date of autumn 2023, I will have to start building my semi-detached house alone, without a neighbor.

Please share your experience and opinions with me.

Would you withdraw? I might still be able to switch at short notice to a still-available, less attractive plot for a detached house.

The plot for the semi-detached house is nice, and I would prefer it over the plot for the detached house.

I have never seen a single semi-detached house standing alone. Also, regarding a situation where the neighbor does not want a basement and would then have to follow my building style, I think this is not an ideal start to a new neighborhood... I also think that when the neighbor builds their half, there might be damage to my house wall.

What speaks against starting the build alone, with the risk that a neighbor might only be found months or one or two years later? The semi-detached house shouldn’t collapse in the meantime, right?

Best regards!

In our new housing development, there were already 5 detached semi-detached houses, with the longest standing alone for almost 4 years. Three of them have since had extensions added.

You need to insulate the semi-detached house if it remains unoccupied for a long time, which of course incurs additional costs. Also, building simultaneously is somewhat cheaper.
It is important that the first is built without a basement and the second with one.
Otherwise, from my point of view, there are no definite disadvantages. I personally know all the owners of the semi-detached houses and have not heard anything negative.

However, there are also negative experiences reported here in the forum, so things can apparently go quite wrong depending on who ends up being the second owner…

lalala-lalala schrieb:

What speaks against starting the construction alone,

Everything. Sorry, the New Year’s walk is calling, so I have to keep this brief. But I’ve already written a lot on this topic—just search for "11ant duplex" here or google "A duplex has TWO halves."

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The ERH from @goalkeeper or the thread should provide you with good information. But don’t worry: since you are building with a basement, it will probably be somewhat less complicated for you. Maybe you should start a notice yourself? “Looking for neighbor”

lalala-lalala schrieb:

has to follow my construction style

Keep dreaming. Terraced houses with four different architectural styles are quite common. I’ve also seen semi-detached houses with a dreadful mix (on one side completely modern with flat roof tiles, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a wide flat dormer, on the other side very rustic with fake natural stone at the corners and small pitched dormers). Your neighbor will build whatever they envision.

lalala-lalala schrieb:

I also think that the extension of the neighbor’s half might cause damage to my house wall.

That should be covered by your future neighbor’s builder’s liability insurance.

lalala-lalala schrieb:

Would you back out? Maybe I can still quickly switch to a still available, less attractive plot for a single-family house.
The plot for the semi-detached house is nice, and I would prefer it over the plot for the single-family house.

You would have to tell us significantly more about both plots or show us more for us to give any real input.

lalala-lalala schrieb:

I can’t wait much longer due to scheduling the excavation for the basement. Of course, I want to plan together with a neighbor. […] I have never seen just one side of a semi-detached house standing alone. Also, if the neighbor doesn’t want a basement and then has to follow my building style, I don’t think that’s an ideal way to start a new neighborhood...

The biggest issue is almost resolved already if you’re building a basement. The easiest situation is when your neighbor builds without a basement; second best is when they build a basement to the same depth. But they might want to excavate deeper than you—due to higher ceiling heights in the basement or different foundation levels. That’s why you should discuss the topic of underpinning with your architect or engineer early on. Unfortunately, most zoning or development plans do not require a semi-detached partner to build a matching profile—so you can forget about optical harmony. In the worst case, the two halves of a semi-detached house can look as different as Schwarzenegger and DeVito. The only way to really avoid that is to buy both plots and pass on one with specific conditions attached—which, of course, requires sufficient liquidity and tax considerations.

At least technically, to minimize complications, it helps if you can persuade your semi-detached neighbor to use the same designer (which doesn’t mean having mirror-image houses or the same construction materials). In reality, your likely semi-detached partner is someone building half a house as a compromise (and unfortunately doesn’t understand this isn’t just “buying a plot three meters [10 feet] narrower and giving up a row of windows” as a trade-off). You must expect someone whose sense of individuality far exceeds their ability to think beyond their own property line.

Hausbautraum20 schrieb:

You need to insulate the semi-detached house if it will stand alone for a longer time, which of course causes extra costs. Also, building at the same time is a bit cheaper.

The insulation must be carefully planned, especially regarding the setback from the boundary. If the insulation is intended to remain when the semi-detached house is completed, you obviously have to set back farther from the boundary; otherwise, a simple joint distance to the property line will suffice, which will later be covered by insulation. Keep in mind your neighbor probably won’t build the other half identically—see above. The hope for volume discounts doesn’t hold up under scrutiny: we’re talking about small amounts of money compared to large expenses (much like the rubber mats that a car dealer adds on top of the “house price”). It’s negligible in more than just Kopper’s sense. The site portable toilet can be shared without building at the same time or using the same contractor.

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