Is a basement in a single-family house useful or rather too expensive?

Is a partial basement still conceivable or sensible nowadays? The items you mentioned obviously have to go somewhere - the bicycles alone need space. But I still don't know what to do with the remaining 40, 50, or 60 m² of the basement..... I mean, the basement level accounts for 80,000 EUR in this building. I really think it's too much to use it as a (half-empty) storage.

Trollish because in this topic fronts repeatedly clash, the search function yields thousands of hits with use cases, and one should know one’s own living needs. Maybe a special usage idea as input is okay, but the question is, what can you use a basement for?

Topic laundry: The basement is cooler and less ventilated. Where should the moisture from the laundry go if not condense on the wall? We currently have the ventilation system also integrated in the basement, that can help.

What do you mean by "direct cellar access"? As I said, there is no hillside here.

Cellar stairs to the garden, so that the lawnmower can go directly from the cellar to the lawn and does not have to go through the hallway.

I could certainly imagine a fitness room down there, but there I also have the disadvantages mentioned before.

Also a common use. The cellar is not cold, just cooler than the house, and for darkness there are windows with light wells. They provide more light than you think. I was mistaken about that too.

Is partial cellaring still conceivable or sensible nowadays?

On a flat plot, partial cellaring practically brings no cost advantages. It's all or nothing. Depending on the terrain and house planning, partial cellaring can make sense.

Also often done: full cellaring used as an underground garage and the rest as a "partial cellar."

A basement is an "invention" for expensive plots or those where you can get by with minimal earthworks (sloping site). For cheap plots, it is much cheaper to place the same rooms on the ground floor. And the best part is, you are even allowed to build right up to the boundary if, for example, it is part of a necessary structure (e.g., garage). Building on the ground floor has, besides the more attractive price (if the plot is cheap...), several other advantages:

- Privacy and wind protection for terraces
- Significantly better ventilation options
- Easier access for bicycles and other garden tools
- Direct light through windows – also possible in basements, but usually not really bright without a sloping site

A basement is the right choice for those who really want one. There is also a geographical tendency – the further south you go, the more people have a basement. Here in the north, 1 in 100 builds with a basement, in the south it is significantly more... but here 95 in 100 build with clinker brick, while in the south 95 in 100 plaster the house.

Basement stairs to the garden so that the lawnmower goes directly from the basement to the lawn and doesn’t have to go through the hallway.

You carry your lawnmower and other equipment up from the basement every time, for which you have specially made the basement accessible with stairs and corresponding excavation, instead of simply putting the stuff in a decent garden shed for maybe 2,000 EUR (which would probably also have room for the bicycles)? Seriously? Sounds more like a trollish provocation to me....

- drinks pre-chilled - everything else you would otherwise put in the garage

The idea with the drinks is kind of cute, but I’d rather have them handy in the kitchen or utility room than a floor below.

- direct cellar access, that already saves you from the tool shed

Direct access from the garden to the garage with space for a workbench and tools is even more convenient than going up and down stairs.

Partial basement nowadays still conceivable or useful? The items you mentioned naturally need to go somewhere – bicycles alone need space.

Sure, but why should you carry anything that runs on tires or wheels up and down stairs??? Better create ground-level space, then it’s less of a hassle to put things in their place? Or do you carry your bikes to the cellar every day?

Topic laundry: The cellar is cooler and less ventilated. Where should the moisture from the laundry go if not condense on the walls? We currently also have the ventilation system integrated in the cellar, that can help.

Or you have a ground-floor utility room with a large terrace door for permanent natural ventilation. That doesn’t cost any energy either.

Cellar stairs to the garden so that the lawn mower can go directly from the cellar to the lawn and not through the hallway.

Again the question here: Why should I carry something with wheels up and down stairs???

On a flat plot, a partial basement practically brings no cost advantages.

Absolutely right, due to the more complicated statics, a partial basement would have cost us just as much as a full basement – all or nothing. And with a waterproof concrete tank and so on. Instead of a cellar, we planned 40 sqm garage with tool corner and 30 sqm storage space in functional rooms plus large built-in cupboards and further storage areas and now hope to manage without a cellar. Although I would always take a cellar with underground garage access and freight elevator.