Buying land is a costly matter nowadays and in some ways, it is a more challenging process than buying an apartment. During the verification, it is not enough to only check the land register. It is also necessary to look at the zoning plan. This may contain various restrictions that may complicate your building plans at best. At worst, you may not get to build anything at all.

The zoning plan can nowadays usually be conveniently found on the website of the respective municipality. In addition to the well-known layout part, the zoning plan also contains a descriptive part. Anyone interested in buying a plot should examine both sections in detail, because each of them contains important information.

And what should an interested party look for specifically, in a zoning plan? For example, if:

• the land is not in a flood area
• there an access road to the plot
• it really is a building plot
• the maximum buildability of the plot meets the needs of the interested party
• there are no height limits in place

In the descriptive part of the zoning plan, look for example for the vision of the municipality regarding further use of the surrounding plots. You do not want a landfill or chemical factory to grow behind your fence within several years.

You should also pay attention to the various protection zones, of a forest or pond, for example. These can make construction very difficult, as they impose various building restrictions.

There are, of course, many other things that can be examined. So, if you do not want any unpleasant surprise, make sure you check a plot thoroughly before buying it.