Conversion of agricultural land to building plot, objection, building authority, building regulations

Hi guys,

I plan to buy a field plot and then convert it into building land. So far, plots 1-7 are designated as recreational garden areas and there is a barn built on it. Since a road was paved there last year, I wanted to ask you if this has increased the chances of converting the land, or if there is anything against it? Unfortunately, I am not very familiar with the building regulations. Before I buy it and have to file an objection with the building authority, it would be good to know if it is legal?!
Thanks a lot in advance.
Best regards

Hello, this is a terribly bad approach. You cannot simply "convert" the land into building land. Whether the land will ever become building land is decided by the city / municipality. Information about this is provided by the land use plan. This is usually available for inspection at the building authority. If you would like to build on the aforementioned field, your first step should be to go to the head of the building authority. First, check there whether it would be worth submitting a preliminary building inquiry. If you get an immediate "no," things look bleak. If building is not excluded, you can submit a preliminary building inquiry. This is almost like a real building application in scope and the effort is not negligible. But you are not buying a pig in a poke. You should only buy the land once you have a positive preliminary building inquiry in your hand.

Hello Kokko,

kaho674 is right, the decision whether a plot of land becomes building land lies solely with the administration, usually with the building committee. To turn an agricultural plot – if it is defined as such in the land use plan – into a building plot, strictly speaking the land use plan must first be changed and then the development plan created. In fact, it usually happens the other way around, but that is not of interest to you.

The core question is therefore what usage possibility exists there. You describe the areas as "Gartenland," which would initially exclude construction without a change of use. It is probably not completely impossible that the plot will become building land because there is already development opposite it, but you should urgently check with the building authority beforehand whether this can happen in the foreseeable future and whether it is worthwhile to submit a preliminary building inquiry.

Without a positive preliminary building inquiry, purchasing the area is nothing more than a high-risk gamble because you have no legal means to achieve a change of the land use or development plan through litigation. You also cannot sue for the development plan to be drawn up at all, since F- and development plans are verwaltungsinterne planning bases and if the administration does not want construction there, then there will be no construction. Period.

Best regards Dirk Grafe

Administration and decision-making power are two different things. It is not the administration that decides on a new development area, but the elected municipal / city council. These are people from the locality who have been authorized through election. Therefore: why not ask your representatives? But: land with development potential is usually not very cheap.

Administration and decision-making authority are two different things. It is not the administration that decides on a new development area, but the elected municipal / city council. These are people from the locality who have been authorized through elections. Therefore: why not ask your elected representatives? But: land expected to be developed is usually not very cheap.

Municipal/city councils are part of the administration, with the land use plan (F-Plan) being the responsibility of the next higher administrative level (district or state). Without a land use plan, there is no development plan. Without a development plan, no construction. (Exceptions in §33/34/35 areas confirm the rule.)

Regards

To my knowledge, there is a regional plan (superordinate authority) and the land use plans, development plans of the city/municipality. The council can change the land use plans independently, can’t it?!

No, it cannot. The municipalities can submit changes in the land use plan to the next higher administrative level and have them approved there. No approval, no change.

I personally see differences between the council and the administration. An administration usually acts according to rules and regulations. In the case above: no building land = no building rights. The council acts politically. Yes, it is desired to designate a new building area in order to grow, etc. Of course, before a land use change, the approval of other authorities (environmental authority, monument protection, etc.) is required.

The establishment of a development plan legally presupposes the land use plan internally (administratively), the establishment of the development plan is an ... administrative act. The municipal council can decide on the establishment; the administration implements it. Land use and development plans are and remain ... internally administrative ... planning instruments, whereby municipal and city councils in Germany belong to the executive branch, thus belong to the administration. City and municipal councils can enact statutes and regulations in areas assigned to them by higher (!) administrative levels (state, federal, district) – but in building law this only applies partially (e.g., for enclosures, additions to neighborhood law). That a municipal council stands above the state building code and designates a building area deviating from the land use plan is – for good reasons – excluded. Moreover, the establishment of a development plan is subject to strict limits and numerous laws, so that there is hardly any genuine planning; rather, the development plan summarizes visibly for citizens and planners what is permissible in certain areas without violating existing laws and standards. Only when the development plan is disclosed and recognized after the expiration of the deadline does it gain legal force and thus external effect for the citizens.

Regards
Dirk Grafe