Buy a plot in Berlin and Brandenburg

Standard land values: the first price check

Before you negotiate a price, check the standard land value. The valuation committees derive it from notarised purchase contracts, so from what was actually paid, and state it for each zone in euros per square metre. For Berlin, the Berlin valuation committee for land values publishes the values (BORIS Berlin), for Brandenburg the BORIS Brandenburg portal. Both are free of charge.

Area times standard value gives a first reference point. A plot of 600 square metres in a zone with an assumed €400 per square metre comes to €240,000. If the asking price differs markedly, ask why: an awkward shape, a noisy street, a right of residence in the land register or a permitted building density above the zone average. Also check whether the standard value is stated as free of development charges. How to read the Berlin value is explained in the guide Standard land value in Berlin.

Development plan or § 34 BauGB: what you may build

A plot is worth as much as the house you are allowed to build on it. The Building Code knows three cases. If a development plan applies, the project follows its provisions (§ 30 BauGB): buildable area, number of full storeys, plot coverage ratio, often also roof shape and parking spaces. If there is no plan but the plot lies within a built-up area, a house is permitted if it fits the character of the immediate surroundings (§ 34 BauGB). In the outlying area (Außenbereich), residential use is permitted only by exception (§ 35 BauGB).

The built-up area sounds more generous than it is. Whether a house fits in is measured by the building authority against the buildings around it, their height, footprint and construction method. Anyone wanting to build markedly larger than the neighbours, or in a second row, gets no certain answer from the law. And where the built-up area ends at the edge of a village is not infrequently disputed.

A preliminary building enquiry (Bauvoranfrage) gives certainty. In Berlin you submit it to the district office, in Brandenburg to the lower building authority of the rural district or independent city. It costs fees and a few weeks, but answers exactly the question you ask. If the seller already has a preliminary decision, ask to see it and check whether it is still valid. Also ask the planning office whether a development plan is being drawn up or amended. A procedure under way can change the rules before you submit your building application.

Utilities and development charges

A plot is only ready to build on once it is serviced: it lies on a public road that can be driven on and can be connected to water, sewage and electricity. Without utilities, there is generally no building permit.

When a road is built to its final form for the first time, the municipality may demand development charges from adjoining owners (§§ 127 ff. BauGB). It bears at least 10% of the chargeable cost itself and can pass on the rest. Whoever is the owner when the notice is issued is liable to pay (§ 134 BauGB), so possibly you, even if the road was built before you bought. This mainly affects sand tracks and estate roads that have been driven on for decades but never fully built. Separate from this are charges for upgrading existing roads; Brandenburg abolished these road improvement charges in 2019.

Have the municipality confirm in writing whether development charges for the plot have been settled or are still outstanding. In Brandenburg, a special-purpose association (Zweckverband) is often responsible for water and sewage and can levy its own charges; ask there too. In the purchase contract you then settle who pays if charges for earlier work arrive after the purchase. The notary has wording for this; the split itself is a matter of negotiation.

Building encumbrances: what is not in the land register

A building encumbrance (Baulast) is an obligation an owner has taken on towards the building authority. Typical examples are a setback area that lies on the plot in favour of the neighbouring house, or an access road for a rear plot. Building encumbrances are not in the land register but in a separate register, and they also bind every later owner.

In Berlin the register of building encumbrances is kept by the building and housing supervision office of the district office where the plot lies (§ 84 Bauordnung für Berlin, Berlin Building Code). Information is available to anyone who shows a legitimate interest; the application goes in writing, signed, to the district office. The easiest way as a prospective buyer is to attach a power of attorney from the owner. In Brandenburg the lower building authorities of the rural districts and independent cities keep the register (§ 84 Brandenburgische Bauordnung, Brandenburg Building Code).

For your planning, a building encumbrance is a hard constraint. A setback area encumbrance can mean that a strip of your plot must stay free, and that may be exactly where you wanted to build the garage.

Contamination, unexploded ordnance and building ground

Whether a petrol station, laundry or commercial business once stood on a site is rarely visible. In Berlin the soil contamination register (Bodenbelastungskataster) records contaminated sites and suspected areas. The district environmental offices provide information, to owners or authorised representatives; our guide Contaminated land register in Berlin describes the process. In Brandenburg the lower soil protection authority of the rural district or independent city is the right place. An entry does not yet mean the soil is contaminated. But it belongs in the price negotiation and in the liability provisions of the purchase contract.

Then there is unexploded ordnance from the Second World War. In Brandenburg the state's ordnance disposal service (Kampfmittelbeseitigungsdienst) is responsible. In some places checking before building is routine; Oranienburg is the best-known example, and how that works there is on our page Buying property in Oranienburg.

The building ground is checked by a soil survey, also called a ground investigation report. A specialist firm drills or probes in several places and describes soil layers, load-bearing capacity and groundwater level. This shows whether a normal foundation slab is enough or whether soil replacement, piles or a waterproof cellar are needed, and that can noticeably raise the cost of building. Ideally the report is available before the notary appointment. Because drilling takes place on someone else's land, the seller's consent is needed. First ask whether they already have one.

Subdivision: when the plot does not yet exist

Often a whole parcel is not sold, but a part of it, for example the back garden of a large plot. Legally, subdivision is the owner's declaration to the land registry that part of a plot is to be entered as a separate plot (§ 19 para. 1 BauGB). Within the area of a development plan, this must not create conditions that contradict its provisions. If the plot is built on, the building codes also apply (§ 7 BauO Bln, § 7 BbgBO): after subdivision, for example, the existing house must continue to comply with its setback areas.

As a buyer you then acquire a part-plot that has yet to be surveyed. The purchase contract describes it with a site plan, and it is surveyed by a publicly appointed surveying engineer or the cadastral office. It usually takes months until the new parcel is in the land register. Settle in the contract who pays for the survey and what happens if the area differs. You only pay the purchase price once a priority notice of conveyance (Auflassungsvormerkung) has been entered for your part-plot. And access: a rear plot needs a secured route to the road, in the land register as a right of way and, where the building authority requires it, as a building encumbrance.

Additional purchase costs: worked example

The same tax rates apply to an undeveloped plot as to a house. Berlin charges 6.0% real estate transfer tax, Brandenburg 6.5% since 1 July 2015. Notary and land registry fees are calculated in both states under the federal Court and Notary Costs Act (Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz).

Example, rounded. Notary and land register fees are empirical values between 1.5% and 2.0%. The commission is assumed: the equal split under § 656c BGB applies to flats and detached houses; for an undeveloped plot the buyer's share may be agreed differently. The brochure is binding.

The table does not include items that are typical for a plot: surveying a part-plot, the soil survey, information from the register of building encumbrances and the contaminated land register, the fee for a preliminary building enquiry. Banks rarely finance additional costs; you raise them from equity (guide Equity when buying property). An overview of all items for Berlin is in the guide Additional purchase costs in Berlin.

One trap affects buyers who buy plot and house from a single source. If the plot purchase is legally or factually linked to a building contract, for example because the seller only releases the plot together with a specific house provider, the case law of the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) sees a single object of acquisition. Real estate transfer tax is then also due on the construction costs. For a house costing €400,000, that is €26,000 more in Brandenburg (€400,000 × 6.5%). Have such a package checked for tax before you sign.

How the purchase runs from the first conversation to handover is described in the guide The purchase process: from reservation to key. If you are looking for a finished house in the surrounding area, you will find its particularities in the guide Buying a house in the Berlin surrounding area.

Sources

• Berlin valuation committee for land values: standard land values (BORIS Berlin)
• BORIS Brandenburg, standard land values of the valuation committees in the State of Brandenburg
• Act on Setting the Tax Rate for Real Estate Transfer Tax of the State of Brandenburg, 6.5% since 1 July 2015
• Senatsverwaltung für Finanzen Berlin (Berlin Senate Department for Finance), real estate transfer tax rate 6.0%
• § 19, § 30, § 34 and § 35 Baugesetzbuch, subdivision and permissibility of projects
• § 127, § 129 and § 134 Baugesetzbuch, development charges, municipality's own share, persons liable to pay
• Act on the Abolition of Charges for Upgrading Municipal Roads, Brandenburg Law Gazette I No. 36/2019
• Service Berlin: register of building encumbrances, request information
• Brandenburg administrative regulation on building encumbrances (2019) on § 84 BbgBO
• Berlin Senate Department: soil contamination register
• Berlin Senate Department: circular on the subdivision of plots under § 7 BauO Bln (2016)
• § 656c BGB, equal split of agent's commission for flats and detached houses; § 8 Grunderwerbsteuergesetz, tax base
• Court and Notary Costs Act, notary and land registry fees uniform across Germany