ᐅ Building a Semi-Detached House in Phases – Is It Possible?
Created on: 3 Jun 2022 11:20
N
NilsHolgerssonN
NilsHolgersson3 Jun 2022 11:20Hello everyone,
We are considering a plot of land to build a semi-detached house. The owner of the neighboring plot is selling the second half and plans to build the other semi-detached house together with us. The problem is that he might not build his half immediately, but only after 2-3 years.
Is it then possible for us to build only our half on our plot initially, and for the neighbor to add their semi-detached house after a few years? Apart from additional construction-related costs and the inconvenience of another construction site in a few years, what other technical disadvantages might there be for us?
In particular, how would the shared party wall between the two houses be handled in terms of insulation, soundproofing, etc.?
And would something like this be allowed by the local authorities (building permit / planning permission)?
Has anyone had experience with a situation like this?
Thank you very much for your advice!
Best regards
NilsHolgersson
We are considering a plot of land to build a semi-detached house. The owner of the neighboring plot is selling the second half and plans to build the other semi-detached house together with us. The problem is that he might not build his half immediately, but only after 2-3 years.
Is it then possible for us to build only our half on our plot initially, and for the neighbor to add their semi-detached house after a few years? Apart from additional construction-related costs and the inconvenience of another construction site in a few years, what other technical disadvantages might there be for us?
In particular, how would the shared party wall between the two houses be handled in terms of insulation, soundproofing, etc.?
And would something like this be allowed by the local authorities (building permit / planning permission)?
Has anyone had experience with a situation like this?
Thank you very much for your advice!
Best regards
NilsHolgersson
Mandatory “Have you seen goalkeeper’s thread yet?” (This one: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/reihenendhaus-mit-gue-in-eigenregie-bauen.31198)
I don’t fully understand it yet. The second half of the semi-detached house will be on the neighbor’s property, right? (I’m a bit confused by the sales details here, it sounds somewhat unclear.)
Anyway, I think the answer is basically “yes, you can start by building just one half.” You do lose some synergy effects, though. If you build at the same time with the same company, you save something because they can do most work in one go. You don’t get that benefit here. (How much of a “discount” companies actually offer, I don’t know.) Also, it definitely helps if your expectations don’t differ too much. In goalkeeper’s thread, the situation was that the houses were built without basements, but the neighbor who was building later (in that case a mid-terrace house) definitely wanted one. That causes some issues (which were partly due to other differing expectations of the neighbor 😀). But it seems a solution was eventually found after a long back and forth.
Otherwise, after you move in, you’ll still have the neighbor’s construction site and the related inconveniences nearby (noise, dust, possibly scaffolding or blocked paths). It doesn’t have to be a big problem, but it’s something to be aware of in advance.
I don’t fully understand it yet. The second half of the semi-detached house will be on the neighbor’s property, right? (I’m a bit confused by the sales details here, it sounds somewhat unclear.)
Anyway, I think the answer is basically “yes, you can start by building just one half.” You do lose some synergy effects, though. If you build at the same time with the same company, you save something because they can do most work in one go. You don’t get that benefit here. (How much of a “discount” companies actually offer, I don’t know.) Also, it definitely helps if your expectations don’t differ too much. In goalkeeper’s thread, the situation was that the houses were built without basements, but the neighbor who was building later (in that case a mid-terrace house) definitely wanted one. That causes some issues (which were partly due to other differing expectations of the neighbor 😀). But it seems a solution was eventually found after a long back and forth.
Otherwise, after you move in, you’ll still have the neighbor’s construction site and the related inconveniences nearby (noise, dust, possibly scaffolding or blocked paths). It doesn’t have to be a big problem, but it’s something to be aware of in advance.
Planning is key. Ideally, both semi-detached houses should be planned at the same time, with the same architect, taking into account the delayed development caused by the second unit. This helps to ease construction sites (literally speaking!).
My own semi-detached house was extended. It works fine.
My own semi-detached house was extended. It works fine.
G
goalkeeper3 Jun 2022 23:55So... since I was kindly mentioned here by @mayglow, I can share a few things about this because we are currently in a similar situation:
If both of you want to build with a basement, you should agree on a common basement depth. This makes attaching the extension much easier later on. If your house stands alone at times, you have to build the wall facing the neighbor as if it were a detached wall – meaning: a 17.5 cm (7 inches) lime sand brick with insulation like we did, or a 25 cm (10 inches) masonry brick that also addresses sound and thermal insulation, since you never know if the neighbor’s house will start exactly at the same street line as yours or if it will be just as tall and long. Otherwise, parts of your façade will be exposed to the neighbor.
Besides that, we have had almost six months of shell construction going on at the neighbor’s property behind us, and I have to say, it really got annoying: stone cutting saws, hammering for the formwork, truck crane in front of the door, concrete pump, etc. – all right next to our house wall.
Apart from that, building alone usually works smoothly: in our area, there are several infill plots where neighbors have built decades ago and have been standing alone ever since. From a construction point of view, the house built later can be built without problems – sometimes with more effort, sometimes with less.
If both of you want to build with a basement, you should agree on a common basement depth. This makes attaching the extension much easier later on. If your house stands alone at times, you have to build the wall facing the neighbor as if it were a detached wall – meaning: a 17.5 cm (7 inches) lime sand brick with insulation like we did, or a 25 cm (10 inches) masonry brick that also addresses sound and thermal insulation, since you never know if the neighbor’s house will start exactly at the same street line as yours or if it will be just as tall and long. Otherwise, parts of your façade will be exposed to the neighbor.
Besides that, we have had almost six months of shell construction going on at the neighbor’s property behind us, and I have to say, it really got annoying: stone cutting saws, hammering for the formwork, truck crane in front of the door, concrete pump, etc. – all right next to our house wall.
Apart from that, building alone usually works smoothly: in our area, there are several infill plots where neighbors have built decades ago and have been standing alone ever since. From a construction point of view, the house built later can be built without problems – sometimes with more effort, sometimes with less.
N
NilsHolgersson4 Jun 2022 13:55Dear forum members,
thank you very much for your responses!
The sale is quite simple: an originally large plot was divided exactly in half, one half is being sold in the usual way, the other stays with the seller. The seller plans to build their half as one side of a semi-detached house, but only later as an investment property to rent out. We, however, plan to build immediately.
The key points are:
- we will definitely build a solid (masonry) house, while the seller so far wanted to build their half as a prefabricated house
- we both want to build with a basement
The construction company sees no problem with this, so our half will be insulated and roughly plastered as weather protection.
One more question: the company builds solid structures using Liapor, but sand-lime brick with external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) would also be possible. The house will generally comply with the energy-saving regulation, including an air-to-water heat pump and a central controlled ventilation system with heat recovery. I personally tend toward sand-lime brick for acoustic reasons. Is the difference critical for a semi-detached house?
thank you very much for your responses!
mayglow schrieb:
I still don’t quite understand. The second half of the semi-detached house will then be on the neighbor's plot, right? (I’m a bit confused about the sales part, it sounds somewhat unclear)
The sale is quite simple: an originally large plot was divided exactly in half, one half is being sold in the usual way, the other stays with the seller. The seller plans to build their half as one side of a semi-detached house, but only later as an investment property to rent out. We, however, plan to build immediately.
The key points are:
- we will definitely build a solid (masonry) house, while the seller so far wanted to build their half as a prefabricated house
- we both want to build with a basement
The construction company sees no problem with this, so our half will be insulated and roughly plastered as weather protection.
One more question: the company builds solid structures using Liapor, but sand-lime brick with external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) would also be possible. The house will generally comply with the energy-saving regulation, including an air-to-water heat pump and a central controlled ventilation system with heat recovery. I personally tend toward sand-lime brick for acoustic reasons. Is the difference critical for a semi-detached house?
Similar topics