ᐅ Urban villa with two residential units, issues with the zoning plan / building regulations

Hello,

I have a problem and hope someone here can help me.

Situation:
My mother is 100% disabled (she has MS) and is retired. My parents live in a very large house. Now my father has suddenly passed away, and my mother finds the large house and even larger property overwhelming.

Idea:
We have considered buying a plot in the new development area of our community and building a townhouse on it. This townhouse would have about 2 x 120 sqm (2 x 1,292 sq ft) of living space with two separate residential units, all designed to be fully accessible (due to my mother’s needs).
The plan was for my mother to move into the lower unit and my family into the upper unit. This way, we would be living together under one roof, and in case of need, we could assist my mother (including care, etc.). The costs could be shared, and everyone would have their own living space but remain close if needed.

Development plan:
The local development plan states the following: >

The mayor had indicated that the community might be flexible if an appropriate application was submitted.
The building committee approved the request to amend the development plan. Unfortunately, the municipal council narrowly rejected the proposal (for reasons unknown). Perhaps this is due to the current elections and political maneuvering.
Many plots in the building area have been vacant for some time, and the houses already built are very large — over 200 sqm (over 2,153 sq ft).

Question:
How can the project still be realized? I spoke with a construction company, and they told me it might be possible to formally apply for a single-family house with one entrance. Inside, a small hallway could then lead to separate entrances for the two apartments.
We would move in as a “family” under the same roof.

Do you have experience, other ideas, tips, or tricks on how to proceed here?
I would be truly grateful for any help.

Regards

The development plan states the following:

"A maximum of one dwelling unit is permitted per single-family house. (§9 (1) no. 6 Building Code)"

deus77 schrieb:

How can the project still be carried out? I spoke with a construction company. They told me it might be possible to formally apply for a single-family house, with one main entrance. Inside the house, a small hallway would lead to separate entrances for the two apartments.
We would then move into the house as a "family".....

In my opinion, this is probably the most elegant solution. I would just leave out the family formalities—you are a family anyway 😉

I think that the reason for allowing only one dwelling unit according to the development plan is usually related to parking spaces. This restricts the number of cars allowed since often only one parking space per unit is permitted.

You could separate 2/3 of the ground floor (EG) for your mother, and use the remaining part as a utility room and shared family room with access to the garden. With a skilled architect, this can certainly be done well. Later on, however, subletting is not allowed, but there's always a way to arrange how the rooms are allocated to whoever needs them 🙂

Hello,

that was the idea behind it…..
By the way, the development plan requires 2 parking spaces per residential unit. If we had been officially allowed to build a two-family house, we would have planned for 4 parking spaces (double carport plus 2 separate parking spots behind). But now we have to see what we can do. 😀

That makes it even less understandable why our application was rejected…..

I’m grateful for any other ideas or suggestions :o

deus77 schrieb:
Hello,

that was the idea behind it.....
By the way, the development plan allows for 2 parking spaces per residential unit. If we had been able to officially build a two-family house, we would have planned 4 parking spaces as well (double carport + 2 separate spaces behind). But now we have to see. 😀

So it’s even less understandable why our application was rejected.....

Well, what happens behind the scenes doesn’t really matter. But it does change the visual impression when an entire fleet of vehicles (and I’d count 4 cars in that case) is permanently parked in front of the house. That’s why two-family houses are simply not allowed! (There are probably other reasons, but I’m not aware of them at the moment.) Maybe also because the district/municipality plans infrastructure with a certain amount of people per house/square meter.

deus77 schrieb:
I’m open to further ideas or suggestions :o

I already said: it’s the most elegant solution. If you prefer to file a complaint... be my guest 😉

Sorry, of course there is another solution:

You renovate your mother’s house and move there 🙂