Hello dear members of the homebuilding forum,
We have finally found a plot of land! I’m very excited to become active here from now on and hope to gain a lot of collective and practical knowledge. We are still at the very beginning. We plan to build a semi-detached house with a larger side for us (about 11x8m (36x26 feet)) and a smaller side (about 7x8m (23x26 feet)). Now we need to decide which side of the plot we should take. Does anyone have any tips?
It is a corner plot, and I have attached a sketch. The small black square at the top is the neighbor’s garden shed, and the large corner on the right is the neighboring house. The street to the west has a sidewalk, and the plots along that street generally have lower fences or hedges. I’m not sure if there are any regulations (such as a maximum height of 1.5m (5 feet)) regarding this. Opposite this street is just a pasture (farm). The street to the south has no sidewalk, and the plots there are very overgrown with tall hedges – usually there is a carport, a wooden gate to the property, and tall hedges along the street.
The corner plot itself is not perfectly rectangular; to the southwest there is a small public parking area (3 parking spaces). We would, of course, like to have as much of a “single-family house character” as possible. We would have the largest garden and more “quiet” if we position our side of the house to the north. However, this means for access either a very long, narrow driveway past the smaller house side (starting at the sidewalk) or a southern driveway, which I don’t really like because I don’t want the mail carrier to be able to look onto the terrace. If we choose our house side to the west, our garden is restricted by the public parking and possibly more overlooked (even upstairs), but this would allow a normal parking space and a normal front yard, and we would have neighbors on only one side, which can also be an advantage. What would you do?
We have finally found a plot of land! I’m very excited to become active here from now on and hope to gain a lot of collective and practical knowledge. We are still at the very beginning. We plan to build a semi-detached house with a larger side for us (about 11x8m (36x26 feet)) and a smaller side (about 7x8m (23x26 feet)). Now we need to decide which side of the plot we should take. Does anyone have any tips?
It is a corner plot, and I have attached a sketch. The small black square at the top is the neighbor’s garden shed, and the large corner on the right is the neighboring house. The street to the west has a sidewalk, and the plots along that street generally have lower fences or hedges. I’m not sure if there are any regulations (such as a maximum height of 1.5m (5 feet)) regarding this. Opposite this street is just a pasture (farm). The street to the south has no sidewalk, and the plots there are very overgrown with tall hedges – usually there is a carport, a wooden gate to the property, and tall hedges along the street.
The corner plot itself is not perfectly rectangular; to the southwest there is a small public parking area (3 parking spaces). We would, of course, like to have as much of a “single-family house character” as possible. We would have the largest garden and more “quiet” if we position our side of the house to the north. However, this means for access either a very long, narrow driveway past the smaller house side (starting at the sidewalk) or a southern driveway, which I don’t really like because I don’t want the mail carrier to be able to look onto the terrace. If we choose our house side to the west, our garden is restricted by the public parking and possibly more overlooked (even upstairs), but this would allow a normal parking space and a normal front yard, and we would have neighbors on only one side, which can also be an advantage. What would you do?
jolovyn schrieb:
By the way, I have read the development plan several times now; there is no requirement regarding the number of parking spaces. Then you should check the state building code or garage regulations for Lower Saxony, as there are often specific rules set by the municipality. Would you be willing to share the county?
I can imagine it like this, for example:
However, that could also be oriented sideways. Photovoltaic systems also work well on east-west facing roofs.
Thank you! I find it really exhausting to have to consider the landscaping design already at this stage, so to speak. First, we will check with the building authority regarding the number of parking spaces required. Two architects we contacted declined the project because we definitely want to work with a general contractor afterward and not use separate contracts. Apparently, that made our project uninteresting to them. Among acquaintances, we have experienced many delays caused by individual tradespeople. At the same time, there are two local companies known for turnkey construction with an excellent reputation (we have already visited several of their completed houses...).
jolovyn schrieb:
Thanks! I find it really exhausting to have to already consider the design of the outdoor areas at this stage, basically Yes, most people make the mistake of starting with the floor plan.
Once it’s finished, the homeowner is usually quite attached to it and fails to see any bottlenecks. They don’t want to change the floor plan anymore, but the outdoor layout ends up being extremely inefficient. That’s why it’s better to roughly mark out the site first. If that fits, then draw a rough room layout, and so on.
Also, certain setbacks must definitely be observed towards the front, for example, 5-meter (16 feet) building lines.
Now you want to be the landlord for your neighbors, not sell them the second half. So it only becomes relevant to market the two halves to two different new owners when you plan to move out of the semi-detached house yourself. I don’t see any significant legal obstacle with a co-ownership arrangement. I certainly wouldn’t restrict myself by linking the position of my half of the house to the position of the parking spaces. A handcart or a trolley will solve this "problem" for a very small amount of money. If the municipality doesn’t care about the location of the new driveway, I would place the entire set of three – as I said, they don’t all have to be paved and officially marked as parking spaces – along whichever property boundary is least inconvenient for me, and from there just create pedestrian paths to the front doors, and that’s it. Trying to achieve perfect optimization in your head only makes things unnecessarily complicated. People come first, then cars. I wouldn’t reverse that quietly by linking my walkways to the parking spaces.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I really don’t care at all about the separation and the different house numbers. Especially since it will still be my own property. That has nothing to do with living or dwelling.
By the way, I wouldn’t move anywhere near my landlords. That only causes trouble.
My mom always said: what I think and do, I expect the same from everyone else.
By the way, I wouldn’t move anywhere near my landlords. That only causes trouble.
jolovyn schrieb:
possibly we can also be looked into more through the windows (including upstairs)
My mom always said: what I think and do, I expect the same from everyone else.
jolovyn schrieb:
Two architects we approached declined the project because we want to build with a general contractor afterwards, not through individual contracts. Apparently, this made our project uninteresting to them. Among our acquaintances, we have experienced many delays caused by individual tradespeople, while there are two regional companies with an excellent reputation for turnkey construction (we have already visited several of their houses...). In this case, consider going with one of those two general contractors. Single-family and two-family homes are straightforward for architectural firms, so you should contact architects running a one-person practice. You can find them not by searching the internet, but by reading past the designed listings in the industry directories (basic listings often include outdated entries, which you can usually recognize by short phone numbers). A general contractor is not a profession on its own but rather a legal status as a principal contractor. The reliable ones are primarily masons and concrete workers (brick by brick) or carpenters (wooden houses) and have their own solid teams or regular subcontractors, often operating under a company name that matches their family name. Beware of the misconception that any company is “too big to fail” — the recent construction market activity has taught us to be especially cautious!
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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