Building application single-family house Lower Saxony over 6 months

Which LK are you waiting in? Our future neighbors waited about 8 weeks, Region Hannover with development plan.

We also have a development plan.
It is not a district, but an independent city.

A permit exemption is probably out of the question because you need compliance with the regulations of a development plan, which does not exist in a §34 area.

The building authority is closed to visitors due to Corona.

A municipal administration has to do its work publicly, period. So they can’t just barricade themselves. But of course, the offices are, first, understaffed in Corona mode because employees are lent to health departments, and second, the remaining employees are working from home as far as possible. What this means for the flow of files, when applications first have to be digitized with a mechanical typewriter, is unfortunately exactly as little Erna imagines. You really have to be understanding—and the administrative judges are, too, so they are rather “not on your side.” But I still consider a lawsuit against a simple “closure” of the office to be promising. Last week I went to the town hall of my provincial district town myself to vote by mail; even it manages to organize administrative operations under difficult conditions: all official business is possible as long as you have an online access (because you need it to make an appointment).
Conclusion: You will still need patience—especially since Covid-19 did not give notice so that everyone could quickly make development plans beforehand. That’s just how it is, and you have to get through it. But the office cannot just completely go into hiding. Still, it is true unfortunately: if every person waiting vents their impatience on the phone, it will not help the processing speed.

We submitted an application in Braunschweig early last summer. The processing took a long time, documents were requested, etc. After several phone calls and “hints” from the building authorities, it became clear that our project would not be approved as it stood. However, no one clearly said this for at least half a year. We were only told what we were not allowed to do, but never exactly which requirements we had to meet (building boundaries, etc., there was also no development plan). I then insisted on a personal meeting with the caseworker, the supervisor, and our architect. This was very friendly and constructive, we then redesigned with our architect and from then on it went very quickly. The new design was submitted at the end of November, the verbal approval shortly before Christmas, and the official confirmation on the first working day in January. My advice: they are all just people, Corona makes everything a bit more difficult, and building authorities seem to be chronically understaffed. Always remain polite, perhaps a bit submissive as well, after all, you are more or less at their mercy. Avoid confrontation, or they might just become stubborn right away. Seek a personal meeting, if necessary also with a supervisor. Local architects often have contacts to the building authorities as well. Maybe use this route? Legal action is possible but will certainly delay approval even more. I would try to avoid that at all costs.