WHAT WE HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION BEFORE BUYING A PLOT
Many people make the mistake of not researching the characteristics of the chosen plot or the Local Building Regulations before purchasing it, while they already have specific ideas about their dream home.
Every settlement, and within Budapest, every district, has its own Local Building Regulations (HÉSZ, KVSZ in Budapest), which provide detailed information about the possibilities and constraints of the selected plot based on the zoning plan.
The most important information is provided by the zoning parameters, which are often presented in tabular form in the regulations. Criteria such as building coverage, green area, building height, floor area ratio, etc., give an approximate idea of the scale of the house.
Certain municipalities may require a specific number of parking spaces to be provided, which may need to be arranged within the building.
It may happen that on the zoning map, along the street front, we encounter a red line crossing the plot. In this case, the municipality may claim the area of the plot for future road expansion.
In such cases, we need to divide our plot with the involvement of a surveyor, and construction can take place on the newly formed, reduced area. The land division procedure may take several months, so even if we resign ourselves to having a smaller plot, this is the first step to be taken if we want to start construction as soon as possible. The authorities only grant building permits for well-organized plots!
It happens that the authorities grant building permits only for plots that have been fully equipped with utilities, meaning that water, electricity, (gas), and sewerage networks must already be installed before initiating the building permit application process.
Most towns already have their own Urban Design Regulations. These regulations affect the appearance of our homes. In many cases, details such as the shape of the roof, roof pitch, as well as the colors and materials used on the facade are specified.
To conclude, let me mention a specific example: a former client approached us with plans for a multi-apartment residential building. He roughly looked into the Local Building Regulations and based on the zoning parameters, his ideas seemed possible. However, because he did not thoroughly examine the regulations, he overlooked the requirement to provide 1.5 parking spaces per apartment (yes, such a requirement exists). As a result, out of the planned six apartments, only four could be executed on the already purchased property.
