Buy land as land with development potential

Hello, we have a plot of land in prospect which, according to the city, will be released for residential construction at the end of the year with the entry into force of the new land use plan. We are currently researching and would like to commission initial financial expenses (e.g., soil investigation). Now to the question: Should we include a clause in the purchase contract (of course notarized and reviewed by a lawyer) and conclude it? Or should we wait? We wanted to have written proof now that the land is buildable (Section 34 of the Federal Building Code applies) and thus learned about the situation from the building authority. We are currently buying recreational land, and if something goes wrong when the land use plan officially comes into force, we will have to reclaim our money and potentially face huge stress. What do you say? Thank you, dear building community

If you buy a recreational area, you cannot claim any money back. That's ultimately just bad luck. You must have a clause in the contract that allows you to withdraw from the purchase or reverse it if the property is not designated as building land within x years. Whether a seller agrees to this is, of course, questionable. As long as there is no official statement from the city, the risk is on your side.

Hello again, in the draft of the new land use plan the entire area has been converted into residential building land. We just don’t know what could stand in the way of it coming into effect... how the procedure works, how long something like this takes. According to the city, it will then be buildable under §34 of the Building Code. We want to start building in spring and move in by autumn 2017. If we wait until December... and then only have the notary appointment in January + waiting time for the building permit everything will be very tight. :-( Should you take a gamble with something like this? Of course, we would secure ourselves with a clause, but there would still be stress in case of delays. We are friends of playing it safe, but this whole building thing is pretty crazy anyway

If I understand correctly, the area still needs to be developed? There’s definitely no way construction will start in the spring

Hello, no, it is an existing weekend house settlement that is being converted for development with up to 2 full stories.

Hi,

We just don't know what could stand in the way of it coming into force... how the procedure works, how long something like that takes.

a lot can stand in the way:

[*]Nature conservation concerns, if suddenly someone finds a rare flower on the land.

[*]Someone decides that actually no new building areas are needed.

[*]Lawsuits from long-established residents whose properties and houses naturally decrease in value with the availability of new building land.

[*]And very popular here in Bavaria: quite coincidentally the mayor’s or one of his relatives’ fields are then declared building land.

It is land with development potential. With the emphasis on potential! Meaning, it can take 2 months, 2 years, 20 years or never become building land. That’s why it is cheap.

My colleague was sold land with development potential almost 12 years ago that was "definitely going to be building land next year". It is still land with development potential today!

Best regards,

Andreas