Property division: Shared access via a separate plot

Hello dear all,

I have been reading in the forum for a while now and finally the time has come, we want to build ourselves! We have already found a very nice plot of land, which is supposed to be divided into two plots. There are already two interested parties, so us and then our future building partner (who will build with us at the same construction company).

Now the question of the access road arises. In the attachment you can see the first site plan from the architect. Our plot would be the plot on the right. The plot is to be divided into three parcels, whereby both buyers will jointly acquire the small "access piece" 50/50 and can use it as an access road.

However, we could also purchase the entire right plot and our neighbors "would have to" create their access road via the other street from the south. Both options are possible according to the building authority.

If we decide on the option in the attachment, of course, we have to buy less land. The architect said that the right plot (with a slight shift of the boundary) can be reduced to a maximum of 500 sqm. That is actually already a bit too much for us price-wise, but feasible. With the access road, our plot would be "only" about 420 sqm, however, we would then certainly have to pay half of the access road. Moreover, we were told that we might save something on development costs with a shared access road.

The following questions arise for us:

[*]How does the agreement with the neighbor regarding the "creation" of the access road work? Could it become expensive for us if, for example, we have to use expensive materials?
[*]Do you really save something on development costs?
[*]How expensive is it to divide the plot? On the one hand generally and then by dividing it into three parcels?

Does anyone have experience with such divisions and any recommendations for us? Of course, such an arrangement always means a bit more "exchange" with the neighbor. In addition, of course, we could not use the area of the access road to park cars or the like. And the neighbors would always drive "directly" in front of our house. But it might have financial advantages.

I would be very happy about help and your assessments! If you have general ideas about the site plan, please share them too! (:

Best regards,
Fyddles

A shared driveway sounds tempting at first, but the disadvantages would scare me off too much.

If possible, I would place the garage on the right property closer to the street to save driveway length (= paving area and costs) and to avoid the path passing by the front door.

You would have to agree with the neighbor on a company, a paving material, a laying pattern, and of course on maintenance (who scrapes moss out of the grooves and who clears snow when?). I wouldn’t want to do that without necessity.

You would also have to be cautious with any greenery along the driveway. If your car gets scratched by overhanging branches, it doesn’t matter to you, but it does to the neighbor.

Wear and tear could also be a source of conflict. You might still consider a pothole acceptable, but the neighbor might not – yet you would probably have to pay anyway in case of doubt.

What does the square meter cost?
The question is whether the 80 sqm savings exceed half of the additional costs for the longer driveway.
Does one save that much? Or at all? And is everything already written by even worth it?

Saving development costs? I can't imagine why, but I'm not familiar with that.

I see the advantages more on the neighbor's side.

Yes, the neighbor does not have to create an access road in the south garden, he naturally benefits from it. But if he is very active and 10 trips per day for work, hobbies, etc. are necessary (children let sizes ), you have the additional traffic right in front of your door.

Apart from that, I would be interested (I’m not familiar with this!), how the setback areas of his house look in this case, which might possibly be on the shared plot?
And what would actually happen if the neighbor sells and the buyer does not want to buy the access road along with it – can the new owner be forced to take over including the assumption of maintenance obligations?

Would definitely not want to share the driveway with a neighbor to reduce the risk of tensions.

A shared driveway sounds tempting at first, but the disadvantages would scare me too much.

If possible, I would place the garage on the right property closer to the street to save driveway length (= paved area and costs) and to avoid the path past the front door.

You would have to agree with the neighbor on a company, a pavement, a laying pattern, and of course on the maintenance (who scrapes moss out of the grooves and who clears snow when?). I wouldn’t want to do that without necessity.

You should also be cautious with any greenery along the driveway. If your car gets scratched by overhanging branches, it doesn’t matter to you, but it does to the neighbor.

Wear and tear could also be a point of contention. You might still find a pothole acceptable, but the neighbor might not – and in case of doubt, you’d still have to pay.

Thank you very much for your assessment. Some very good points that we had not considered so far. Ultimately, I think only a savings speaks for this division, as you already said. We should clarify whether we can buy the 500 sqm as well. That would surely be the better solution.

What does the square meter cost?
The question is whether the 80 sqm savings outweigh half the extra costs for the longer driveway.
Do you save that much? Or at all? And is everything that has written even worth it?

Saving development costs? I can’t imagine why, but I’m not familiar with it.

I see the advantages rather with the neighbor.

The purchase price is a very high 250 euros per sqm for the location. The plot is already level, which is unusual here, and as far as we know, it is one of the last in the area (and anyway the only one currently for sale). That you should first tally it all up against each other is a very good tip, so that in the end you don’t save nothing! Many thanks!