House built in allotment garden without building permit (year 1920)

Submit a preliminary building inquiry.

Thank you very much for the responses.

Unfortunately, there is very bad news.
The LRA has verbally informed me that I should hire a lawyer to review the building's existing rights protection.

This is now the worst possible starting point one can imagine.
I cannot and do not want to pursue legal action. This takes years and costs tens of thousands of euros. Money I do not want to "invest" here, as there is a very high risk that the permit will not be granted.
Moreover, I wonder what a lawyer is supposed to achieve? I do not have a decision against which I can file an objection.

Does anyone have any idea how I can come to any solution without spending thousands of € on a lawyer?
A formal building preliminary inquiry unfortunately does not seem to be promising at the moment in view of the statement.

I am really angry and desperate by now. I have been trying for a year now to get a solution or at least ANY binding statement from the authorities. However, no one wants to help us or provide information.

Best regards

hm somehow a cooler case right up my alley. Over here in Serbia it's common practice. Now that the offices are becoming more modern, you get the permit through money. Of course that doesn't work in Germany. But the office only says you should have a lawyer check it. Or does Bestandsschutz mean they want to have it demolished? It's an inheritance after all. What is the thing's value? Sell it

Well, there is no protection of the existing state without a building permit ever having been granted. The mere duration of the building’s existence is not sufficient – the building must have been approved at some point for protection of the existing state. To my knowledge, there is no statute of limitations for illegal construction either. As a rule, if tolerated at all, it is tolerated as long as it is inhabited. However, you are now also in a situation where the house has not been inhabited for years and has accordingly fallen into disrepair.

A glimmer of hope in my view would only be if the building authority had, at some point since the building was constructed, (in writing) indicated in some form that it would not take action against the illegal construction and that it would accept the development permanently. However, the chances for that are most likely poor. This is probably where a lawyer comes into play, who surely knows better how certain documents can be interpreted in that regard.

I am really angry and desperate by now.

About what? You inherited a garden plot with a shed. Hooray! That your ancestors converted the shed into a residential building without approval is not the fault of the authorities. Now you want absolution from the authorities for your ancestors' violations of the law, but you are not even willing to present your concerns formally and correctly. At the same time, you complain that you do not receive a formal response against which you could take action.
What do you expect? An authority must act in accordance with the law. And if permanent residence is currently not permitted in the garden allotment settlement, planning law must first be established, which must be desired and affordable. More than looking the other way is simply not possible as long as there are no complaints from third parties.
With legal measures, you will probably only hit the illegal neighbors.

Homer, E. is right there. You can do nothing more than look away. You have to talk, not write. I would never, ever give you a document stating that your garden shed is now a residential house and that you could easily build something on it, etc. I would get into deep trouble. I simply cannot officially permit you in writing to break the law. I can only tell you off the record that I’m not interested in the exact use of your shed because I don’t like to snoop. That’s as far as it goes. What my successor in office does would be another matter. Karsten