You want to buy a plot of land in Germany and build an extension there later. During the document review it becomes apparent: Part of the old neighbouring building may stand on the area offered. The statement “If you buy the land the ground is yours, so the building must go” is not sufficient for your decision. You need a clarified factual and legal starting point before you plan with the free strip.
Have the encroachment clearly attributed first
Our editorial recommendation: Describe which part of the building is affected and on what the suspected boundary position is based. A fence, an enlarged screenshot or your own distance measurement will not be treated as conclusive proof of the boundary. Submit plans, existing surveying documents and known construction documents to the competent specialist authority for that purpose.
Also gather the background: construction, later alterations, known agreements and reactions at the time. Record an actual recollection as such. A present-day statement “That was always tolerated” must not, without further examination, become a complete legal justification.
Check possible tolerance in the historical event
§912 BGB governs an obligation to tolerate when a building is erected across the boundary under certain conditions. These include absence of intent or gross negligence and the statutory significance of a timely objection. [DULDUNG] It is therefore not your current consent or refusal as a prospective buyer alone that is decisive.
Have it clarified whether this provision is applicable to the specific existing situation or whether another basis must be examined. The article does not assert that every old building must remain, nor a guaranteed claim for removal. An additional thermal insulation or other newly planned boundary encroachment is not assessed here under state neighbour law.
Ask about rent right and actual payments
For the statutory tolerance case § 912 names a monetary rent; its amount relates to the period of the encroachment. §913 regulates the payment between the respective landowners. [DULDUNG] [ZAHLUNG] A current asking price for building land is therefore not, without examination, the statutory measure for the rent.
§ 914 paragraph 2 provides that the statutory rent right is not entered in the land register. The provision treats contractual determination and waiver separately. [GRUNDBUCH] A routine extract therefore does not replace the question about this procedure. Request the associated documents and any available payment information; a specific arrears claim is not calculated here.
Compare solutions with your actual space requirement
Explain to your advisor why the strip is important. Do you need it for a concrete design or would a smaller available area suffice? Have legal solutions and their practical feasibility examined before you factor the full benefit into the purchase price.
§915 contains a special purchase claim of the rent beneficiary against transfer of the overbuilt part of the plot under the conditions set out there. [ABKAUF] This rule is not an already completed boundary settlement and not a promise of a freely negotiated current building land price. Any agreement under consideration requires appropriate professional drafting.
Hypothetical case: A planned extension needs precisely the occupied strip
A buyer draws a new extension up to near the boundary. Only later it becomes apparent that an old neighbouring garage intrudes into the area assumed for that purpose. He initially assumes that, after acquiring ownership, he can demand its removal.
Before committing he has the boundary position, the construction event and existing arrangements examined. In parallel he has the design assessed against the actually clarified spatial offering. If a material solution is still outstanding, it remains a condition precedent to the purchase. The case confirms neither tolerance nor demolition. It prevents an unknown legal consequence from being bought as a certain structural reserve.