Plots in Cologne only through developers?

Hello everyone,

I'll admit right away that I am a rookie when it comes to house construction. My partner and I would like to move to the beautiful Köln-Dellbrück. We first looked for houses to buy and, given the prices, thought: you might as well build yourself.
I have noticed two things:
1. The city of Cologne apparently no longer sells plots of land to private buyers, but will (in the future) only work with investors/developers. (Currently, no plots are being offered; the city's decision will be final at the end of the year.)
2. As a result, building a house with an architect is virtually impossible; you are tied to a developer?!
Could you please give me some opinions on this? Am I completely wrong in my conclusion?
Best regards
Kati

Hello Kati,

You are right, the homepage of the city of Cologne currently does not provide, at least at first glance, any information about properties owned by the city that are to be sold.

Everything you find there is already several years old...

However, buying from the city is only one way to get a property.

I would therefore recommend that you walk or drive through the relevant districts and specifically look out for building gaps – maybe there are even one or two free plots in the development area started in 2011 in Köln-Dellbrück.

If you find a property there that you like, I would first try to find out from the neighbors who owns it and then contact the owner directly – asking doesn’t cost anything...

If the neighbors cannot or will not give information, then it gets more challenging – the land registry office will most likely not provide you with information about the owner because the authorities usually do not consider a purchase interest as a reason for such information.

Creativity is then required if you have to find out who the owner is by other means.

If you need a tip for that, just get in touch again.

Good luck with your property search!

Regards,

Dirk

Delete the land registry office, instead take the cadastral office

It is true that currently no plots are being offered on the City of Cologne’s website. However, I have always assumed this is solely due to a lack of available plots and not because the city fundamentally sells only to developers.

I am registered with the City of Cologne as an interested buyer of plots and am automatically contacted as soon as they put new plots on the market. Unfortunately, there is currently nothing available. I have been registered there for about two years and have only been contacted once so far, when they tried to sell five more than suboptimal plots in the Chorweiler district… those were also offered on the website like hotcakes for months until they were eventually gone.

My hope currently rests on the announced new development area Rondorf-Northwest.



The big question will be whether they will sell to end consumers again here or, as you pointed out, possibly sell everything to developers. Since demand far exceeds supply, the City of Cologne awards coveted plots through an application process. The following count positively in the allocation:
- Owner-occupiers before investors
- Interested party already lives in Cologne
- Interested party works in Cologne
- Interested party has children
- Interested party has been registered as interested with the City of Cologne for as long as possible

Fortunately, things look very promising for us in this respect.

If I knew they definitely only sell to developers once the area finally becomes building land, I would even seriously consider risking buying a plot currently still designated as agricultural expectation land that lies in this area and is currently offered.

Actually, I would prefer to buy a house in the west of Cologne, but that is hopeless if you want a certain type of house and can’t put at least €1,500,000 on the table. Even for the option of buying a house in need of demolition, you almost never find a suitable offer and if you do, a professional provider is usually faster.

But before moving to the northern Eifel or the Bergisches Land (Overath would be quite nice with small children, for example) and commuting 45-60 minutes every day, it will remain a rental for now.

Hey Hotzenplotz, thanks for the tip about the site! I've seen it before. By the way, I got the info about the land sale directly from the City of Cologne, I contacted them by email. From 2017, the city's land is supposed to be sold only to developers/investors..unfortunately. I've been commuting 70-90 minutes every day for several years, which is really exhausting. Unfortunately, the search for a suitable property hasn't gotten any easier either. Yes, the houses in the western part of Cologne are expensive. It's incredible what you’re expected to pay.

Well then, out into the beautiful surroundings. There are also areas where you can commute just as quickly. Cologne is not just Cologne. The address alone does not mean that you are quickly in the center. Although it is not much easier to find something good in the surrounding area, you enlarge your search area.