# Rules about renovating your own house in Germany



## woody7

Hi everyone. That's my short story: I living in UK since 2007. All that time was renting a nice bungalow and spent a fortune on rent, bills and council tax. I'm bit tired of giving my hard earned money for someone else. At the moment I'm working mostly at home, so now I am thinking to get a property in Germany and move there. I am looking at cheaper houses with needs of renovation. For me that's not a problem, as I has worked as electrician, builder, and access platform engineer in the past so can do almost anything that involves house renovation. My questions are:

1. Is it legal to live in a property if it's still in renovation stage. I mean can I do all renovation work slowly in my new property while i live there? Or renovation must be done first before moving in to property?

2. Is it any regulations that tells how exactly renovation work should be done. For example in UK electrical installation must be done by person who can provide you with completed Electrical Installation Certificate. Same on gas. Is it similar in Germany and what exactly needs to be certified? Can I do all the work and when get someone to check everything and provide me with all necessary paperwork?

3. If the house needs a renovation, how fast it must be renovated. For example if I buy house that looks tired even from outside, can I leave it like this for next few months till I move to Germany?

I tried to use google for these answers but couldn't find much about that...


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## beppi

1. Yes, as long as the building is inhabitable and structurally sound, you can live there under any circumstances you want.
2. There are rules similar to UK, but they are extremely complex and not generally enforced. It is best to ask an expert before you set out to do anything, so at least you know when you do something unallowed.
3. Except in areas (or buildings) with protection orders, you can leave a building in any state - until the neighbours sue you because the sight reduces the value of their property ...


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## woody7

Thanks for your quick response. Just one more question, who decides if the building can not be inhabitable, I mean is it some kind of certificate or something? And will I be told this when buying property. I know seller in Germany must tell about all hidden defects he knows about, but in real life it's not always the case. Thanks in advance.


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## beppi

There is no "certificate of inhabitabilty" or anything similar. Common sense and liability rules apply.
Sellers must tell you about all known defects, hidden ones are your risk. Furthermore, most property purchase contracts have additional clauses limiting sellers' responsibilities - basically "bought as seen" is the most common for distressed property. You do need a friend who can judge building quality, and a good sense of adventure. Deep pockets also help - renovation is expensive in Germany and in most cases a new building comes out cheaper in the end. (I've been there and done that ...)


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## woody7

Thank you very much for your help. As I said hopefully I would be able to do most of renovation by myself, got plenty of skills and time for this. So at least I hope I can save on labour costs.


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