Behavior in case of imminent delay by the property developer

Have you already secured financing?

Hello everyone, thank you very much for your assessments.

Since I consider my speculation regarding the "suspensive" retention basin very likely, I also assume that, contrary to your belief, the clock has not yet started, and the developer has no cause for panic.

I had also suspected that the developer might try to proceed via the adjacent multi-family house. Our information regarding the mandatory handover date comes from the fact that a concrete date of readiness for occupancy is mentioned in an email from the developer "provided no objection is raised against the building permit." This employee no longer works for the developer, and they were tight-lipped about it. The fact that the building permit for the multi-family house is somehow to be considered suspensive can be found neither in the contract nor the annexes. The whole thing is described only technically in an attached document; the multi-family house does not even appear in the purchase contract (which includes the deadline).

There will be 100% no coverage here since building law is included in no RSV. A separate policy (e.g. with ÖRAG) must be taken out before construction begins. It also cost us a four-figure premium, but it is worth it.

Unfortunately, that is correct so far, no coverage for construction matters with us.

One can only wish the OP to be financially well positioned if a double burden from installment, commitment interest, rent, etc. arises. Extremely unfortunate situation from which you will not be able to get out so easily, I fear. In your place, I would now invest €200 and have a specialist lawyer advise me on the options and legal situation based on your contract.

Have you already completed financing?

Of course, we have already financed, the commitment interests of about €1,000 per month will start from July. Financially, this does not put us in trouble; we are solidly positioned in terms of income. Since nothing has been disbursed yet, no interest is due. We will probably go to a lawyer anyway.

A separate policy (e.g., with ÖRAG) must be taken out before the start of construction. It also cost us a four-figure premium, but it’s worth it.

Here I was told that most insurers have a 6-month (!) waiting period for a builders’ liability insurance – when we wanted to take one out shortly before the first signature, it was unfortunately too late...

We have of course already financed, the commitment interest of about €1000 per month starts from July. Financially, this does not put us at risk, we are solidly positioned in terms of income. Since nothing has been paid out yet, no interest is due yet. We will probably go to a lawyer anyway.

From July this year? Are you actually better off with the commitment interest than with the interest from your loan? I can hardly imagine that. When was the financing completed?

I was told that with most insurers there is a 6 month (!) waiting period for a builder's construction all-risk insurance - when we wanted to take one out shortly before the first signature, it was unfortunately too late...

With ÖRAG it was said to be possible without waiting time until construction start. We also took it out long after signing the general contractor contract but still several weeks before construction started. And so far there has been a consultation which was fully covered.

So you have a builder contract and thus also a consumer construction contract. The delay is defined in §650 of the Building Code. From the moment the delay occurs, compensation is due (also according to the Building Code). This is usually (I take a quote from the internet, so I don't have to write so much):

- Additional rent that the buyer must pay due to the delay
- Lump-sum compensation, provided this was agreed upon in the purchase contract
- Loss of rent, if it was planned to rent out the property
- Additional moving costs, if another move is necessary due to the delay
- Costs for storage of furniture
- Additional travel costs between home, daycare, school, and workplace
- Commitment interest from the lending bank. Banks charge buyers so-called commitment interest in case of delayed disbursement of the individual installments. The buyer can claim reimbursement of these from the builder.
- Compensation for loss of use if only lower-quality living space is available to the buyer during the period of delay. In 2014, the Federal Court of Justice ruled that the buyer of an apartment completed late by the builder is entitled to fictitious loss of use.

But first, the delay must have occurred. And until then, more or less a lot of water flows down the Rhine.

With all the information you provided, I have a question: Could it be that you are talking about the Innerste Aue project in Sarstedt by Norddeutsche Wohnbau and that you bought one of the townhouses? It just comes to mind since Norddeutsche Wohnbau was recently taken over by Volksbank and is actually known in the region as a reliable and reputable developer.