Hello everyone,
I’ve been following the forum for a while now, and finally, we’re ready to build our own home!
We have already found a very nice plot of land, but it is planned to be divided into two lots. There are already two interested buyers, namely us and our future building partner (who will also be building with the same construction company).
Now, the question is about access. Attached you can see the first site plan from the architect. Our plot would be the plot on the right. The land will be subdivided into three parcels, with both buyers jointly purchasing and sharing the small “access strip” 50/50 as a driveway.
Alternatively, we could purchase the entire right plot, and our neighbors would then have to create their access from the other road to the south. According to the building authority, both options are possible.
If we choose the option shown in the attachment, we would have to buy less land. The architect said that the right plot (with a small border adjustment) could be reduced to a maximum of 500sqm (5,382 sq ft). This is already somewhat expensive for us, but manageable. With the shared driveway, our plot would be “only” about 420sqm (4,521 sq ft), but we would presumably have to pay for half of the driveway. We were also told that we might save some costs on utility connections with a shared driveway.
Here are the questions we have:
Has anyone had experience with this kind of subdivision and could offer us advice? Of course, such an arrangement requires more communication with the neighbor. Also, we couldn’t use the driveway area ourselves for parking or anything like that. The neighbors would always be driving directly in front of our house. But financially, there might be advantages.
I would greatly appreciate any help and your thoughts! And if you have any general suggestions about the site plan, feel free to share those as well! (:
Best regards,
Fyddles
I’ve been following the forum for a while now, and finally, we’re ready to build our own home!
We have already found a very nice plot of land, but it is planned to be divided into two lots. There are already two interested buyers, namely us and our future building partner (who will also be building with the same construction company).
Now, the question is about access. Attached you can see the first site plan from the architect. Our plot would be the plot on the right. The land will be subdivided into three parcels, with both buyers jointly purchasing and sharing the small “access strip” 50/50 as a driveway.
Alternatively, we could purchase the entire right plot, and our neighbors would then have to create their access from the other road to the south. According to the building authority, both options are possible.
If we choose the option shown in the attachment, we would have to buy less land. The architect said that the right plot (with a small border adjustment) could be reduced to a maximum of 500sqm (5,382 sq ft). This is already somewhat expensive for us, but manageable. With the shared driveway, our plot would be “only” about 420sqm (4,521 sq ft), but we would presumably have to pay for half of the driveway. We were also told that we might save some costs on utility connections with a shared driveway.
Here are the questions we have:
- How does the agreement with the neighbor work regarding the construction of the driveway? Could it become expensive for us if, for example, expensive materials are required?
- Is there really a cost saving on utility connections?
- How much does subdividing the land cost? Both in general and specifically for dividing it into three parcels?
Has anyone had experience with this kind of subdivision and could offer us advice? Of course, such an arrangement requires more communication with the neighbor. Also, we couldn’t use the driveway area ourselves for parking or anything like that. The neighbors would always be driving directly in front of our house. But financially, there might be advantages.
I would greatly appreciate any help and your thoughts! And if you have any general suggestions about the site plan, feel free to share those as well! (:
Best regards,
Fyddles
A shared driveway might sound appealing at first, but for me, the disadvantages would be too much of a concern.
If possible, I would position the garage on the right side of the property closer to the street to save driveway length (= paved area and costs) and to avoid having the path pass right by the front door.
You would need to agree with your neighbor on a contractor, paving material, a laying pattern, and of course on maintenance responsibilities (who scrapes moss from the joints and who clears snow and when?). I personally wouldn’t want to deal with that unless absolutely necessary.
You would also need to be cautious with any planting along the driveway. If your car gets scratched by overhanging branches, it’s your concern, but not your neighbor’s.
Wear and tear could also be a source of conflict. You might consider a pothole acceptable, but your neighbor might not—and in the end, you would likely still have to help pay for repairs.
If possible, I would position the garage on the right side of the property closer to the street to save driveway length (= paved area and costs) and to avoid having the path pass right by the front door.
You would need to agree with your neighbor on a contractor, paving material, a laying pattern, and of course on maintenance responsibilities (who scrapes moss from the joints and who clears snow and when?). I personally wouldn’t want to deal with that unless absolutely necessary.
You would also need to be cautious with any planting along the driveway. If your car gets scratched by overhanging branches, it’s your concern, but not your neighbor’s.
Wear and tear could also be a source of conflict. You might consider a pothole acceptable, but your neighbor might not—and in the end, you would likely still have to help pay for repairs.
How much does the square meter cost?
The question is whether the 80sqm (860 sq ft) savings outweigh half of the additional cost for the longer driveway.
Do you really save that much? Or save anything at all? And is everything already written by @Maria16 even worth it?
Saving on infrastructure or connection fees? I can’t imagine why, but I’m not familiar with that.
I see the advantages more for the neighbor.
The question is whether the 80sqm (860 sq ft) savings outweigh half of the additional cost for the longer driveway.
Do you really save that much? Or save anything at all? And is everything already written by @Maria16 even worth it?
Saving on infrastructure or connection fees? I can’t imagine why, but I’m not familiar with that.
I see the advantages more for the neighbor.
Yes, the neighbor does not have to create a driveway through the south garden, but of course, they benefit from it. However, if they are very active and need about 10 trips per day for work, hobbies, etc. (children are getting older), you will have additional traffic right in front of your house.
Apart from that, I would be interested to know (I’m not familiar with this!) how the setback requirements for their house would be affected, especially if they partly lie on the shared property lot?
And what would actually happen if the neighbor sells the property and the buyer does not want to purchase the driveway—can the new owner be forced to take it over, including maintenance responsibilities?
Apart from that, I would be interested to know (I’m not familiar with this!) how the setback requirements for their house would be affected, especially if they partly lie on the shared property lot?
And what would actually happen if the neighbor sells the property and the buyer does not want to purchase the driveway—can the new owner be forced to take it over, including maintenance responsibilities?
W
wurmwichtel20 Mar 2019 11:30I would definitely not want to share the driveway with a neighbor to reduce the risk of conflicts.
Maria16 schrieb:
A shared driveway sounds appealing at first, but the disadvantages would really worry me.
If possible, I would place the garage on the right property closer to the street to reduce the driveway length (paved area and costs) and avoid having the path pass directly by the front door.
You would need to agree with the neighbor on a contractor, the paving material, a laying pattern, and of course on maintenance (who scrapes moss out of the grooves and who clears snow when?). I wouldn’t want to deal with that unless absolutely necessary.
You would also need to be cautious with any greenery along the driveway. If your car gets scratched by overhanging branches, that’s one thing, but for the neighbor, it’s another.
Wear and tear might also cause disputes. You might find a pothole acceptable, but the neighbor might not—and you could still be required to pay for repairs in that case.Thank you very much for your input. Some very good points we hadn’t considered so far. Ultimately, I think only cost savings speak in favor of this arrangement, as you said. We should check whether it’s possible to buy the entire 500 sqm (5,382 sq ft). That would probably be the better solution.
face26 schrieb:
What is the price per square meter?
The question is whether the savings from 80 sqm (861 sq ft) outweigh half of the additional costs for the longer driveway.
Do you really save that much? Or anything at all? And is everything @Maria16 already wrote even worth it?
Saving on development costs? I can’t imagine why, but I’m not familiar with that.
I see the advantages more on the neighbor’s side.The purchase price is 250 euros per sqm (250 euros per 10.76 sq ft), which is quite high for the location. The plot is already level, which is unusual here, and as far as we know, it is one of the last available in the area (and currently the only one for sale). Your suggestion to compare everything carefully is a very good point, so we don’t end up saving nothing at all! Thank you very much!
Similar topics