Filling in land - Pros / Cons?

Hello House Construction Forum Members!

I intend to buy a building plot, but it needs to be filled and adapted to the street level. Currently, I am wondering whether the costs for the filling might lead me to possibly not sign the contract for the purchase of the plot. At €44/m2 for the plot, however, the price is tempting low. The house (15x16m footprint bungalow without a basement), 5x15m in front of the house up to the street boundary as well as the driveway (6m wide, 25m long) and the garage (6x10) must be filled so that about 1m height difference (average) can be "eliminated". We are currently calculating with about 600-700m3 of material. In my opinion, the garden can have a slight slope and will only receive a 30cm topsoil layer. What material would you recommend to us, do you need Z0 soil on the entire site or are there cheaper alternatives with acceptable quality? I would have the earthworks for the house done by the construction company of the house so that there is no stress later, following the motto "these cracks are only there because they filled rubbish under the house, so the builder is out of the game". Does anyone know how many m3 I should add for compaction? Without expertise, I have simply calculated an extra 100m3.

Looking forward to your feedback! Attached is a picture of how it currently looks on the right side of the property, the neighbor has already had everything completely filled. The driveway will run directly at the right property boundary, the house is 5m away from the street.

P.S. The city has just newly developed another building area and this one, so the location is very good. The question is when the next area will come, which should perhaps be considered when deciding on the additional costs. Offers from companies are still pending, inquiries have already been sent out. I will report back.

Best regards Peter

Take a look at this thread and consider the possibility that your immediate neighbors might have a different attitude towards filling than you do. In general, be aware: the filling is not purely a cost factor, but the development plan could also define height restrictions (eaves height, ridge height, and of course the measure of terrain alteration itself) in such a way that the height after filling would be less favorable than leaving the current state as it is (as far as that is possible – one obviously wouldn’t want an off-road vehicle just to get from the street onto one’s property).

Thank you for your quick reply 11ant. I have now quickly read through the first half of the thread you recommended, what an intense matter. Our development plan allows little, meaning we will not have any difficulties regarding the height of the plot or the house. Leaving the height as it is would not be an option for us, as we will not build with a basement (too close to the river). Filling up to the neighbor's height would probably also look best visually.

In our case, the development plan provides little, i.e. we have no difficulties regarding the height of the plot or the house.

Is that a confirmed positive finding or do you just not know anything negative? – That does not necessarily have to be stated in the development plan – but possibly "only" in the state building code – from which extent a terrain modification already becomes a (permit-required) structure. Eaves height and ridge height are usually regulated in the development plan, where there are very different reference levels. In my opinion, favorable – because easiest to understand and plan – is an absolute specification in meters above sea level; but e.g. the street height in front of the middle of the property could also be such a reference level. Still absolutely favorable – but unfortunately more difficult to understand – can be when heights refer to each other, for example eaves height relative to the floor height on the ground floor (which in turn is then within a certain range below/above street height).

At least the setback areas continue to be measured according to the natural ground level. Unless the development plan requires filling, which is apparently not the case here.

So I have thoroughly read the Landesbaugesetz and the Bauordnung, and there are no issues regarding distances, etc. The entire building area is at the same level as the street, only 3-4 plots at the edge lie lower and were not filled up by the city. The city itself suggested a filling, they apparently wanted to save costs.