Expansion of an existing outbuilding

Hello everyone,

I would like to estimate before buying a house to what extent it is possible to enlarge an existing outbuilding, as I would like to set up a somewhat larger garage with a lift for private purposes. We have not yet purchased a house, but have two houses in close consideration, both of which have such an outbuilding. These are currently already used as a garage/double garage, but do not have the desired dimensions. In Example 1, the outbuilding is at a distance of 2.5 m from the neighboring property. In Example 2, the outbuilding is directly on the property boundary. The federal state is Lower Saxony, where 30 sqm of floor area are exempt from approval, which I exceed in both cases.

The two examples are roughly sketched below. The respective outbuildings are marked in yellow. The adjacent neighboring property including the existing buildings there is also drawn in. To what extent is it possible here:

1. To enlarge the outbuilding by moving the long side facing away from the residential house by a few square meters? The (gable) roofs need to be renewed in both cases anyway, as they are already very old.

2. Is a new building application required for this?

3. Is it possible to reliably clarify this project before buying the house? Is a preliminary building application possible for this?

Best regards
Andreas

A workshop is - which non-commercial status does not mitigate - rather considered a living space than a storage room, whereby the garage loses its border privilege. And even as a garage, the average wall height at the boundary is limited; furthermore, a setback from the boundary would also increase if the building heights increase. A building preliminary inquiry is at least recommended. It would probably be rejected in a WA and even more so in a WR. In an MI or MD you might have better chances. In a GI or even just a GE, living would be the more problematic part of the mixed use. I see you sharing the general fate of hobby mechanics, having to accept - with few exceptions - that German building law refuses to acknowledge the coexistence of humans and vintage car collections.

What is MI, MD, GI, and GE? Can you reveal that?

Far too little information. Without the exact development plan for the construction area and the plots, no statement can be made about it. In any case, I would not recommend building without approval.

What is MI, MD, GI and GE? Can you reveal that?

Mixed-use area, rural mixed-use area, industrial area and commercial area are types of land use in (sections of) areas of binding land-use plans and in land-use plans.