Private road = Building land? Who pays which share?

Good evening,

2. We have to remove a hill that lies on the driveway (soil survey is available) - cost for development and removal approx. 80,000 + VAT

That's quite a statement .... why is the development so expensive?

Rhenish greetings

We share the driveway with our neighbors who live behind us. The path cost less than a tenth of the price per square meter compared to the rest of the building land. Development costs were halved.

I would also clarify the legal basis first. Here, "Eigentümergemeinschaft" has often been mentioned, but what lies behind that is the question. Probably not a WEG, although this is most likely meant by (Wohn)Eigentümergemeinschaft. More likely a co-ownership according to shares under the Building Code, but only the OP knows. From that, the rights and obligations related to the structure could be better estimated.

The amounts mentioned made me quite gulp. Is it even worth building there anymore?

Hello, Rollo!

Legally and financially, this is unfavorable for you. If your property does not have any other potenzielle access to a public road area, each rear owner requires an official encumbrance (Baulast) on the road property, individually. Additionally, this must possibly be secured privately by a servitude.

I assume that this is a private sale. As a seller, of course, one has an interest in receiving the full €370 for these ~200m², but logically that is incorrect. The standard land value prices or the increase from agricultural/reserved land to building land results precisely from the fact that road areas and connections are constructed, and these costs then reflect in the increased standard land values of the (overall reduced) area for building land.

In short, you would be paying twice.

Such a communal/public road area can also be transferred to the city with all rights and duties so that the area counts as public roadway. This also replaces the more complicated construction of a jointly used private road and naturally saves on maintenance costs. The municipalities usually pay a symbolic price of €1 after completion... for the entire road, no matter how large. Because the road is paid for through the income from the sale of building land.

More precise information can be given with a cadastral extract; you can gladly upload it, censor/exclude the specific location designation, and only enter the ownership relations in the corresponding parcels, i.e., which areas are private/building land and where the surrounding public traffic areas (all of them!) are located.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

1. We are supposed to pay for the land under the street as building land (after all, 370 EUR/sqm) - is that normal? 2. We have to remove a hill that lies on the access road (soil report available) - cost for development and removal about 80,000 + VAT and on top of that another 75,000 for the land. That would be about 160,000 EUR just for the road

Have you already discussed this with the bank? Possibly they will throw a wrench in the works because the costs and the price for the land are not fully recognized, which could affect your loan-to-value ratio.

The costs for this road; how long is it? And do you have one or several cost estimates? If only one; sometimes there are big differences. Does the development also include laying all supply/disposal lines to the 3 houses? Up to the house? Or only up to the respective property boundary?

What does + VAT mean?

And what about municipal development costs? Have you already thought about that as well?

: The costs are unfortunately so high according to the estimate: 1. Land - as mentioned building land at 370 EUR/sqm approx. 220 2. A significant earth mound that would have to be removed - the estimate here is between 12,000+24,000 including transport (depending on the exact soil quality - we do have a soil survey, but I don’t know who is liable if something different is found deeper down - we live in the Ruhr area) 3. Sewer construction is 8,000 + 30,000 road works 4. VAT