Extending building land around garden land - Effects on building envelope

It is true that something like that can be predetermined, I am also aware of that. Our property is very small, and to my knowledge, the only requirement is that we must maintain a distance from the street at the front.

Sorry to bring this up, but a bit naive, isn’t it? You acquire a building plot without knowing what and how you can specifically build on it? Respect, with such carelessness the construction will definitely be interesting. I would strongly recommend that you discuss the underlying development plan with a specialist so that you know what, how, and where you are allowed to build.

Apology accepted, because you are completely wrong.

We purchased the property with the knowledge of how it can be developed. And we would not have bought it if we had not clarified beforehand that we could also develop it according to our ideas. The development plan is available to us and was explained to us in detail before the purchase.

Now there is the subsequent possibility to grow in width by acquiring the garden. Therefore, I am considering planning rotated by 90 degrees, meaning more in width instead of depth. For this reason, the question arises about the easement or how two properties can be combined. This was not initially part of the considerations and I therefore have corresponding open questions.

If this is not possible or the garden is simply too expensive, no big deal and the planning will continue as originally planned.

Best regards

Hello sirhc,

there are ways you can use the garden land to build a wider house. Basically, you can leave the building envelope with your house if you register an equally sized Waiver of Building Easement elsewhere within the building envelope - this ensures that you change the building envelope but do not have more buildable area than planned. If shifting out of the building envelope means you would need an additional setback easement from the neighbor, you can simply acquire their area and add it to your property. Then the setback easement no longer applies.

Whether this is worthwhile in your case, what costs it would trigger, and how to arrive at a price for the garden land based on this, I can explain to you relatively quickly if you send me a plan of the house and a location description. Contact details in my profile

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

There is no proper plan of the house yet, only a few sketches and plans in my head. I have not yet put the new planning variant in combination with the garden down on paper.

What is important to me is basically the information that land which is not building land can fundamentally take on a (setback area) building encumbrance. I find that illogical, but if that is how it is, then I accept it as it is.

Best regards

That's true. It also makes sense from another perspective, but if you try to explain it, it quickly becomes technical jargon.

More information is welcome when the planning is more concrete. Basically, a rough sketch and a correct location description are enough for me, then I can explain to you in 10 minutes whether the line of thought is worthwhile. If not, you can steer your planning in the right direction and won't waste time on things that are ineffective anyway.

It's just an offer, but I think it would help you move forward quickly.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

I have to step in here:

It’s not that simple.

1. A building envelope is a building envelope.
2. Ask the municipality whether they will exercise their right of first refusal regarding the garden plot. They might want to use it as a compensation area.
3. Registering a building encumbrance might be possible, but it won’t help if the construction you want is not approved.
4. The municipality can tax the garden land as building land in the future since you want to add it to your parcel. This would result in an amendment to the development plan. Pure garden land is subject to minimal taxation and must be proven as such.

Go to your municipality, talk to them, and check everything first. If the seller has utopian ideas, you have to confront them with facts anyway.

Go to the building authority and ask if you are allowed to build as you want. This is called a preliminary building inquiry. Your building project will then be discussed in your municipality’s committees. The building application will also be discussed if there are deviations. This can take some time!