Floor plan optimization of a single-family house with a basement on a small plot

Gifhorn is located in Lower Saxony - is that supposed to set an example in Thuringia?

I know where Gifhorn is (I still have a residence there) and where Thuringia is. If Escorda is correct, the area under the ground floor must be filled up and brought to street level. So why can an underground floor not be half-buried in Thuringia? Whether and where there are examples in Thuringia, I do not know. Ashes on my head, I did not pay attention to that on Sunday.

Whether and where there are examples in Thuringia, I do not know.

My remark referred to the fact that, in my impression, the municipality here follows the concept of developing the land-use plan to be drawn up almost from the §34 reality, that is, formulating the current condition of the neighboring area as a standard. In this sense, examples from elsewhere – even if they are best practices – are always tainted with the stigma of lacking local flavor.

Then the plan just has to be placed in a stall for 3 days

On Tuesday there is a meeting with the seller. Then it will be clarified whether the drainage ditch can or must be purchased or whether the neighbors automatically become co-owners and perhaps also whether the area can then be included in the building plot to improve the floor area ratio, secure the development, and comply with the setback areas without a construction burden. Shortly thereafter, the city council decides to disclose the development plan. The disclosure usually begins two weeks later. After another month, planning permission according to §33 Building Code is granted and the building application can be submitted. By then, the city also knows whether submissions are still being considered and the plan will be changed again. This is rather rare. If in the meantime someone has measured heights on the property or has put the measurements on paper, there are foundations on which decisions can be made.

Crystal ball: The development plan becomes legally binding as it is now, i.e. ground floor floor level at least 80cm above the current ground level The owners of the drainage ditch automatically become the neighbors, i.e. free expansion of the building plot A parking space on the northeast boundary is allowed, access between the valuable trees by means of a passage crossing is also possible for construction vehicles The area towards the street and for the parking space is filled with 80cm using the basement excavation (170cm) The ground floor floor is additionally raised by three steps = 51cm On the garden side there will be level windows (1000mm*1000mm) for office and guest room The terrace will be raised on stilts with a small staircase (1.50cm) to the garden

P.S.: decided against the basement for cost reasons in worse site conditions (1.50m filling, even smaller plot, no white tub necessary).

Thank you very much for the great summary!

Man, luckily there is this forum, I was not aware of so many things...

Hello everyone,

I have now also registered. As the name surely reveals, I am the better half.
First of all, many thanks for your constructive criticism, the many suggestions, and the great effort! I have followed everything as well as I could and after more than 2 eventful weeks with appointments, I finally find the time to join in.

Before going into further insights, here is briefly my opinion on a few discussed topics.

* The much-discussed home office * - professionally, I have so far sat:
- directly in front of a white wall --> was the worst, that gives you headaches
- next to a small window, looking into the room (6-person office) --> was the best so far
- currently looking out the window with one workstation distance (with a lot of sunlight)--> okay, but very glaring, the blind is always pulled down.
My experience with the workplace regarding the eyes is that apart from regular breaks looking into the distance, it’s better to have it somewhat darker, but then monitor brightness and blue light reduced, that really protects the eyes.

* Guests sleep in the basement *
They have no problems with that, neither old nor young, friends or family.

* Suggestion from *
I like the suggestion with the extension to the roof from , so an extension of the roof or a shifted shed roof. I would make the roof overhang a bit bigger so it doesn’t look so tower-like. What worries me would be the technical room in the roof. On one hand because of the load, should one add a buffer storage, etc. for a solar system, and on the other hand, if anything ever leaks there, it goes through all floors.

We have now for the version with a basement a consideration with a small bay window, something like that the builder also planned independently of us - I will attach that as well. Otherwise, the variants without a basement would be either similar to the Lichthaus 152 from Town & Country with an expanded attic, guests in the attic and access to it via the home office or similar to the suggestion from . But I can also imagine the builder’s suggestion with the basement somewhat modified as an attic.

My question would still be whether it really always has to be 2 full floors for a staircase to the attic or if a high knee wall with a dormer would also work?

And now to the facts:
- The soil report is not yet finished.
- We now have the development plan, which has been approved and is now being displayed. (The preliminary one had already gone through early citizen participation). I attach a screenshot below.
Brief summary of the important things:
- The strip of land between us and the street which has a small ditch belongs to the municipality, and it should stay that way. There is no known function as a real ditch; according to the development authority it can be filled in.
- It remains that the building boundary on the street side starts at 5m from the street (so no 3m from the property boundary must be kept).
- The average height of the building plot must be at least at street level (currently 60-80cm below), maximum 60cm above.
- A driveway with max. 5m width, max. 2 parking spaces.
- The indicated fruit trees (which are dead anyway) can be replaced by new planting if they are dead (so we could certainly use the 5m wide driveway if necessary).
- Eaves height of 7.5m remains, max. 38 degrees roof pitch remains.
- Garden and tool sheds with a permitted footprint of max. 10m² are allowed outside the buildable area.
- The property is still not surveyed. It is to be commissioned when we sign the purchase contract (but we will not do that before final surveying). Our new neighbors have already done that, so in my opinion it should actually already be surveyed. They plan 2 full floors with a southwest terrace facing the street, parking spaces at our property boundary, house as far as possible in the northeastern corner.
- The neighbors have a parent living locally, the man grew up there. They said he used to ice skate on the property in winter because a thin ice layer had formed through standing water :/
- That and a statement from another local resident make us seriously consider a house without a basement.

I look forward to the further discussion!

Best regards