250000€ gross construction costs for a single-family house in southern Baden-Württemberg

Oh yes.... And you also have a hillside location. We are also planning all-in (without land) more than €450,000 – and that without hillside location, without a basement, without automation, without smart home, without photovoltaics). But this includes, besides the pure house, of course the ancillary construction costs (including connections etc.). And that in a significantly "cheaper" region than southern BW. If you only assume the (in my opinion too low) €2000/m2 and include the additional costs (including hillside location), you will certainly come to >€400,000. And that WITHOUT luxury.

Hello dear community,

after a long search, we were able to find a building plot with 467 sqm. It is located, as my forum name might suggest, in the Wiesental. For most who don't know it... It is in the far south of Baden-Württemberg. The town is about 25 km from Basel. The place is therefore quite expensive purely from the building ground perspective, which is naturally not included in the €250,000, for a somewhat rural area. We will soon be a family of four and would like to build a house of about 120 sqm there, on a slight south-facing slope with pressing groundwater. There should be no basement. However, the foundation slab would have to be executed as a white tank. Besides the living/dining room, a master bedroom, two children's rooms and a room planned for flexible use as a guest room/office should be included. A design as two full floors would be ideal but not a requirement. Only the essentials should really be included. Nothing smart is necessary, we can also easily operate the roller shutters ourselves. The bathroom does not have to be large and nobody really needs expensive fittings. "Simple equipment" as they like to say. For fun, I wrote to various architects. One said it would be possible but rather with an area of 100 sqm. I would also like to share part of the other architect's reply:

Based on a total gross of €250,000, these would approximately distribute on average (according to the German construction cost index) as follows:

€193,000 construction costs, of which:
€154,400 building structure (about 80%)
€38,600 building services (about 20%)
plus
€6,500 preparation & development (about 3-4% of construction costs)
€12,000 exterior facilities (about 6-7% of construction costs)
€38,500 ancillary construction costs (about 20% of construction costs)

These percentage rates are average values for construction projects of this kind (1-2 family house, no basement).

The construction costs of €193,000 form the basis for the calculation / value of construction costs / m2 living space.

Assuming that the 120 m2 you mentioned is the usable living space (and not the floor area times 2 floors = 240 m2?), this would result in a construction cost budget of

€1,600 / m2 living space.

For comparison:

The national average construction costs for a 1-2 family house, no basement, as of early 2017
were between €1,530 and €2,510 / m2 living space, depending on standard.

Compared to this, with a budget of €1,600 / m2 you would be very close to the lower limit, thus the simplest standard.

However, several factors already deviate from a very simple standard at first glance:

• The factors of sloping site and pressing groundwater / “white tank”
• For the district of Lörrach there is also a regional factor of 1.095, meaning that building here is usually about 10% more expensive on average than the national average and the comparison prices.
• Since 2017, construction prices have additionally risen by about 5-8%.
• Unfortunately, the current economic situation also continues to increase building costs, as companies have hardly any capacities and scarcity drives prices upwards.
• Possible funding measures (KfW) or wishes that, for example, require building services above the simplest standard (ventilation systems, solar systems, etc.) also further increase costs.
• We also always recommend a reserve of at least 10% for every project.
• Last but not least, in the course of planning a single-family house, a lot tends to be added over time —> garage/carport, special electrical equipment (smart home, bus technology) or other building services, rising standards in execution
• Basically, the equipment also adds costs —> fitted kitchens and built-in furniture contribute significantly here

Of course, countless factors play a role in the calculation, and we currently do not know any further key data of the project.

Our experience and projects in recent years have shown that here in southern Germany, construction costs tend to be between €2,000 and €2,300 / m2 living space for normal/medium standard.

Whether with very careful planning, simple, compact floor plans/cubatures, simple execution standard, execution without time pressure / with lead time and possibly a high degree of prefabrication the budget can suffice, therefore CANNOT be answered simply with YES.


Reluctantly but probably more realistically, I hear from this that a custom-designed architect house is probably not an option for us, right? What about prefabricated houses? Are they really that much cheaper? I mean, sure, dream prices are in the catalog but common sense tells me that there will be quite a bit added on top.

I hope for your opinions and honest answers.