Cultivation 100 m² living area - design for as much built-up space as possible

Hello dear community,

we have been looking for a suitable plot for a two-family house or preferably two single-family houses side by side for some time. Ideally, two horses should be able to move in as well. And since we’re wishing for things, at least the idea of my parents is not to move further than 15 minutes by car from the family business. And by the way, there must be no power lines or railway tracks nearby. So not that easy.

We have now found an older, small, partly renovated single-family house with 8,000 m² of land, of which 3,000 m² do not directly border the property and are leased. It is relatively central for the idyllic location and the only neighbors (about 30 meters away) already have a riding arena that could be shared.

My parents would buy the single-family house and renovate/complete the remaining parts. Next Tuesday an expert building surveyor is coming to specify the costs and damages. The costs (purchase and renovation) will be covered by equity.

Okay, wrote a lot of nonsense, I’ll get to the point: we cannot add an additional single-family house after consulting with the building authority; that would be surprising anyway, since it is definitely a rural area. However, they would allow us to add 100 m² of living space.

To define the construction as an extension, we would connect the utility room of the old building with the extension and use the heating (which would then have to be renewed) and photovoltaic system jointly. Is that enough?

And the most important question: how can we get the most out of the 100 m² living space? According to them, utility rooms and circulation areas probably do not count?

My preferred idea would be to build an L-shaped bungalow, 100 m² living space + utility room, and put a gable roof on it. One gable roof is open at the top without an intermediate ceiling for the look; with the other gable roof, first the intermediate ceiling is insulated and, if necessary, there will be no fixed staircase to the top. Later, when children come in about 2-3 years, the gable roof will then be converted and a staircase installed. In my little dream world, however, the roof up there at least has a knee wall of one meter and a fixed staircase would be installed right from the start. But I don’t know if that would actually count as living space.

An alternative would be to build a double garage in the extension, which would later be converted into living space.

Would one of these scenarios be conceivable? Are there alternatives?

We are making an appointment with an architect next week. But maybe there are some good suggestions or experiences.

PS: The house, with such a construction, of course, is worth much less immediately after completion than the purchase and construction costs amount to. But the building in the rural area and side by side is worth it to us.

Forget about the knee wall, that will be noticed during the building application, that’s what the plan is about. Equip the bungalow with a 35-degree roof pitch and build the stairs, then declare the roof space above as storage area. That went through without problems for us and did not count towards the floor space ratio. And not towards the living area. As for the garage, keep away from that, it can end badly. Nobody will care about the later expansion upstairs. Not even if Velux windows are installed, but beware, no dormers. There are plenty of good floor plans for 100 m² bungalows available online. Scanhaus Marlow Marlow, Danwood, Team massiv, eco Haus, among others, are recommended to get some ideas. You can also find a suitable one at tundc. Karsten

They would allow us to add 100 m² of living space.

Utility room, traffic areas apparently do not count according to their statement?

Later, when children come, in about 2-3 years, the gable roof will be converted and a staircase installed. In my small dream world, however, the roof has a knee wall of one meter at the top and a fixed staircase is installed from the beginning

Yes, there are some contradictions. What did they say? 100 sqm of living space or the construction of 100 sqm (footprint)? If you are thinking of attic construction with a knee wall of 100, that also results in living space upstairs. Living space that you no longer have if you use it downstairs. To get a living space of 100 sqm, about 115 sqm could be built over (footprint). Or do they mean that you may still build over 100 sqm footprint? That results in about 85 sqm living space plus what is in the attic (single-storey).

"Winkelbungalow" means it is now a rectangular floor plan, and another one should adjoin it offset by 90°?

I would probably then coordinate the knee wall with that of the existing building – so from this perspective knee wall zero, if the existing building has a parapet instead. Should the 100 sqm apply only to the extension, or should living space gains of the existing building be offset against it?

I assume the existing building has one storey plus attic (?) – instead of an extension, would an additional storey or a combination thereof also be discussable?

It’s best if you show the plot and the existing building.

: Thank you very much for your feedback. I think this is how we will also approach the conversation with the architect and try it with the attic, provided the inspection by the building surveyor is positive on Tuesday.

: In what way confused? So it actually talks about living space, not the floor area ratio or site coverage ratio. Which makes the matter a bit more difficult for me to grasp. There are several ways to calculate living space. I assume (hope) that if the utility room and stairs are not counted, an unfinished attic is also not counted.

: A corner bungalow will be attached. So we would use the full "L". Unfortunately, I only have the pictures from the listing and there is no direct picture of the front. An image from Google Maps has to suffice for now. There is the main house, a small annex to the west (flat roof), and to the east there is also an annex (pitched roof). We would attach to the eastern annex - I hope the description is not too confusing - basically in the wooded section. Although it looks like there are more trees than there actually are. And the 100 m² living space only applies to our construction, meaning the planned annex that does not yet exist.

EDIT: Oh yes, the existing building has a ground floor + attic, with the knee wall estimated here at 0.7 m. We do not want to add a story because both parties mostly want to live on the ground floor. Otherwise, searching for a house would not be so difficult.

An alternative would be the construction of a double garage in the extension, which would later be converted into living space.

That is not possible, as a change of use must be applied for – and this would not be approved if the living area is already fully utilized.

In what way is it confusing? So it is actually referred to as living area, not floor area ratio or site coverage ratio. Which makes it a bit more difficult for me to oversee. There are several ways to calculate living area. I assume (hope) that if the utility room and stairs are not included, an unfinished attic also does not count.

In Lower Saxony it is not that complicated: as far as I know, everything counts except the stairs count half. At least everything was included in our case. In the attic, of course the full storey regulation applies, i.e. living area between 1 and 2 meters height counts half, etc.

How large is the other house, is any space there needed by the parents or can the children’s rooms for example be accommodated in the attic there?