ᐅ Can a renovation be prohibited to protect the view?

Hello, I am new here and have a question right away.

I am supposed to inherit my grandparents’ semi-detached house, but it is a bit small for me and my family. I was thinking about adding dormer windows to make the upper floor a bit larger. However, a neighbor told me that such renovations are not allowed by the building authority because they would change the appearance of the neighborhood. There are six semi-detached houses in the neighborhood, and they all look the same.

So my question is: is this true? As the owner, do I have to restrict my freedom to maintain the appearance? Or is this just an old East German regulation that no longer applies?

Thanks for your help.

Hello mabo,

what does your architect say about this, since you need them for the building permit / planning permission? They should be familiar with this.

Fortunately, it’s not that far yet.
But my uncle would also like to have the house, although my grandparents would prefer to give it to me because of my two children. It’s only useful to me if such a thing exists and I’m allowed to renovate/extend the house. Otherwise, I have more space in my current apartment and would leave it to my uncle.

Well, I guess I’ll contact an architect then...