Hello everyone,
We planned our house with a developer. The knee wall was set at 1.50 m (5 feet) in the initial design, which was important to us so we could still place some cabinets or dressers there.
Now the financing is finalized, and the deposit paid, etc., and suddenly they say they overlooked something in the fine print of the building regulations, and the knee wall can only be up to 1 m (3 feet 3 inches) high. To compensate, they want to change the roof pitch from 38 to 45 degrees. This would increase the volume and give us a really big attic space.
That sounds great – but it doesn’t really add much usable living space. It actually reduces the living area quite a bit, or are we seeing this wrong?
Before I start complaining, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. I feel like they should at least add some square meters as compensation, shouldn’t they?
Thanks in advance!
We planned our house with a developer. The knee wall was set at 1.50 m (5 feet) in the initial design, which was important to us so we could still place some cabinets or dressers there.
Now the financing is finalized, and the deposit paid, etc., and suddenly they say they overlooked something in the fine print of the building regulations, and the knee wall can only be up to 1 m (3 feet 3 inches) high. To compensate, they want to change the roof pitch from 38 to 45 degrees. This would increase the volume and give us a really big attic space.
That sounds great – but it doesn’t really add much usable living space. It actually reduces the living area quite a bit, or are we seeing this wrong?
Before I start complaining, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. I feel like they should at least add some square meters as compensation, shouldn’t they?
Thanks in advance!
We were told there are no regulations at all and that anything would be allowed. I never saw a plan. Of course, it might be partly our fault. No question about that. But I relied on that statement... We actually bought the plot directly from the company.
So do you think it makes sense to ask about increasing the living area?
So do you think it makes sense to ask about increasing the living area?
We have already received the disappointing answer that we should have built a more expensive urban villa, and now that’s just too bad... But that’s exactly what we didn’t want, because we don’t like urban villas...
Now we’re somehow getting a lower quality than what was originally offered to us... I am really upset...
Now we’re somehow getting a lower quality than what was originally offered to us... I am really upset...
Oh, so it’s a developer? Then there might possibly be a right of withdrawal. However, others would need to assess that, and you should consider it carefully. If I were in your position, I would think about what a good compromise for you would be and discuss it with the developer. Alternatively, you could check if a right of withdrawal applies if nothing else works for you. But that also involves a lot of effort, so I would only do that if you really couldn’t accept the situation.
Exactly, that is a developer. He also said, then we can just make it two stories, but that will cost us quite a bit. Financially, it would be possible since we planned much smaller than we could afford, so to speak... But I simply don’t like two-story houses. And I also don’t see why we should pay more now, even though they messed things up.
Two stories don’t necessarily mean a townhouse. You can also have one with a pitched roof, or achieve this by adding an extra gable or something similar.
Try turning back the clock. What would you have done if you had known about the 1m (3.3 feet) in advance? How would you have decided then?
- Lower knee wall, but larger
- Lower knee wall and therefore more affordable
- Two stories with a pitched or hipped roof
- Not build at all
Try turning back the clock. What would you have done if you had known about the 1m (3.3 feet) in advance? How would you have decided then?
- Lower knee wall, but larger
- Lower knee wall and therefore more affordable
- Two stories with a pitched or hipped roof
- Not build at all
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