Financial devaluation of one's own property due to the neighboring house

hmm, usually it is not the height but the proximity that disturbs or restricts.

I agree with you. But when the distance between the houses is very small due to the unfavorable development plan and the narrow plots, even a house wall that is one meter higher is disturbing. With a larger plot and more distance to the neighboring house, I wouldn't care if he now exceeds the building regulations by one meter. In the current case, however, it annoys me.

With a larger property and more distance to the neighboring house, I wouldn’t care if he now exceeds the building code by a meter.

I agree with you there as well. However, the legal facts remain the same.

In the current case, though, it annoys me

I can understand that – at least half of the fine should be given to the disadvantaged party – that would make sense!

Hello Slintrebla,

I would like to add to @Voki in this case. First of all, it needs to be checked whether the setback areas of the building structure as it currently stands still remain on the property. Among other things, the following must be examined ...

1. ... to what extent the neighboring property has been altered compared to the original terrain
2. ... whether any change (excavation/filling) was done only partially or over the entire property
3. ... what framework the development plan sets regarding the height

No lawyer is needed for this at first, but ...

1. Neighbor’s building application – check this regarding the heights of the original terrain! Possibly compare with heights from older sources (canal and road planning, soil survey).
2. Neighbor’s building approval
3. Updated calculation of setback areas or how the fine was explicitly justified, which violations were explicitly documented – pay attention to whether there were partial fillings on the site at the common boundary or if these are provable – if yes, they trigger their own setback area (!) and this then directly affects your property. It is therefore interesting whether and how the terrain relief was changed contrary to the specifications of the development plan.

Review by your architect; regarding the documents, you have a legitimate interest, i.e., at least the right to inspect the files.

Basic solutions here:
- raise your own terrain, if possible within the development plan (often 1m standard in development plans without additional building application) – this will incur additional construction costs, but then there is no disadvantage afterward
- if 1m or the height change allowed without approval in the development plan is not sufficient, represent the desired raising of the terrain in the building application and have it approved (possibly with the justification that the neighbor has demonstrably built too high)

I am very skeptical, like @Voki, about shifting additional costs such as terrain raising, retaining walls, etc., onto the city or the neighbor (partially), but changing the terrain surface offers plenty of approaches that can be examined because fundamental errors often occur at this point in many building applications, in later expansions, and also during approval.

So ... I would not write off the issue completely yet and initially it will not be expensive.

Best regards Dirk Grafe

Our neighbor also built his double garage directly on the western boundary with us.
So it is quite similar for us (plot with south orientation and access in the north).
Since we are already partly deprived of the sun in the west and we do not want to look at his garage wall, we are skipping a window in the west and placing our carport there.

Besides the 3 terrace windows in the south, we now also have one in the east, where we plan our living room.

It must be said that we do not have a direct neighbor to the east, but there is a turning circle there.

How wide will your house be? Are you also building directly on the 3m boundary in the west?

Our neighbor also built his double garage directly on the western boundary with us.
So it is quite similar for us (plot with south orientation and driveway in the north).

Since the sun is partially blocked from the west anyway and we do not want to look at his garage wall, we forgo a window on the west side and put our carport there instead.

Besides the 3 terrace windows in the south, we now also have one in the east, where we plan our living room.

It should be noted that we have no direct neighbor to the east, but instead there is a turning circle.

How wide will your house be? Are you also building directly on the 3m boundary line in the west?

Good morning Haus 77,

that sounds familiar to me, only that for us a) the 3m boundary distance was maintained since it is not a garage, and b) the wall is not only about 2.5m high like a garage but about 7.5m.

The plot is 18m wide. On the west side, we keep the 3m boundary, because – due to the narrow plots – we have placed our garage under the house. So from east to west we first have the 3m boundary distance, then our house with 10.5m, then 4.5m to the property boundary and another 3m from the boundary to the neighboring house. So between his and our house walls there is a distance of 7.5m. That is about as much as his house is high.

Regards
Slintrebla