Influencing the development of a new housing area - as a "normal mortal"?

Hello everyone,

I have often wondered who actually decides in rural areas whether a certain area is planned as building land and drives the implementation. Can citizens also be involved in this process?

The background is as follows: I know some beautiful villages whose directly adjacent meadows would (in my layman's eyes) be great for a new development area. What would need to be fulfilled and done for such a meadow to be declared a new development area and for a private person to be able to build a house there?

Additionally, the following information: The meadows border directly on the last houses of the villages, but are officially in the outer area. (Quiet) paved roads already run past the meadows. The plots probably do not belong to the municipality but to local farmers.

Can an ordinary person even get something like this started? Where would the points of contact be, how much time should one bring, and how high is the likelihood that it can work?

Thank you very much! I am looking forward to your answers.

You are too late. According to §13b Baugesetzbuch, the procedure should have been initiated by 31.12.2019 to save a lot of money, time, and bureaucracy.

Since your question concerns an entire degree program and requires a lot of experience in practical implementation, I recommend as a starting point the reading of the Baugesetzbuch.

Thank you for your answer.

You are too late. According to §13b of the Building Code, the procedure should have been initiated by 12/31/2019 to save a lot of money, time, and bureaucracy.

Are you referring here to a law that changed at the end of last year?

Since your question concerns an entire course of study and requires a lot of practical experience in implementation, I recommend as a starting point the reading of the Building Code.

My question is more aimed at which offices and experts one would have to approach as a potential builder and not at what said offices/experts would then do in detail. Although that is of course just as interesting if someone is willing to roughly break it down.

Are you referring here to a law that changed at the end of last year?

Yes. The paragraph in the Building Code has made it easier for municipalities to designate new building areas that directly adjoin the existing development.

My question is more about which offices and professionals a potential builder should approach

First, you have to win over the politicians. The city or municipal council then decides on the planning intention and commissions – if available – the planning office of its own administration or external service providers to develop a planning concept.

First, you have to win over the politicians. The city or municipal council then decides on the planning intention [...]

Even though that is of course just as interesting if someone is willing to roughly break it down.

You shouldn’t have invited me to be rough, but here you go: You “only” have to move to the respective village with all your friends – with main residence, mind you – and then you have to multiply like rabbits to more than compensate for the local population decline. For municipalities, what counts is the undersupply of their population with housing in general – not specifically with homeownership. In the city, occasionally it is added as a point to consider that the quality of the quantitatively sufficient existing housing urgently needs improvement. But in the village, slums or rows of houses with oil or night storage heaters are rare. The mere desire for a place for your mortgage creditworthiness is not a communal interest that obliges public action. Note: Municipalities are not fixed entities – more and more of them (especially in rural areas) are threatened by pressure to merge, and then all these questions arise at the level of the newly formed overall municipality. Plan B would be: join forces with the other potential home builders and acquire the building land as an entire area; then, as an investors’ association, draft a proposed development plan. Good luck finding the bank, because this also requires perseverance and bearing some upfront costs. Ordinary mortals in the sense of non-noble can do it, but not in the sense of without means.

90% is simply politics - watching Ozark, it's American, but the basic principle is the same with us.