Tiny house in Germany: the 20 most common questions.
Twenty tiny house questions per country — permits, delivery, customs, connections, winter use, cost and letting. The answers are project orientation and do not replace a ruling from the responsible authority.
As a rule, yes. Once a unit stands permanently in one place and is used for occupation, Germany treats it in planning law as a structure. the lower building authority of the district or independent city is responsible. Whether a procedure applies, and which one, is decided at the specific plot — not by the product.
the lower building authority of the district or independent city. MODUNERA supplies the building and the technical documentation; the decision on admissibility, procedure and conditions rests entirely with that body. Get the answer in writing before you order.
the Bebauungsplan, or an assessment under §34 or §35 BauGB where there is none governs. It sets the permissible type of use, the way of building, the buildable area and the servicing. A plot with the wrong designation for your project cannot be rescued by any technical solution.
Permanent living is possible where the plot lies within a built-up area or a Bebauungsplan permits residential use and the project is approved. In the outer area under §35 BauGB, living is privileged only in narrowly defined cases — the most common reason German projects fail.
Campsites and weekend-house areas have their own rules and often limits on length of stay that rule out year-round residence. Read the site's own statutes and the Bebauungsplan together.
Classification follows actual use, not the chassis. If the unit stands permanently and is used for occupation, planning law generally treats it as a structure — wheels and registration included.
As project orientation we work with roughly 6,800 € ex works to the agreed point in Germany. The figure matches the configurator's Germany tariff. The final amount depends on route, access, crane requirement and date; a freight commitment only exists with the checked quotation.
The unit travels whole on a low-loader. The route runs overland through south-eastern Europe; driving time is a matter of days, while loading, paperwork and the unloading window set the real lead time. The exact date is fixed together with the unloading point, because in practice the last hundred metres cause more trouble than the route.
Türkiye and the EU are linked by the customs union. For industrial goods with an A.TR movement certificate, duties generally do not apply; import VAT and handling charges remain. Your customs agent confirms the treatment of your shipment.
German VAT at 19 per cent applies on import. As of 2026-08-14. The rules in force at the time of delivery govern; the tax treatment of your specific case is for your tax adviser to confirm.
Pad, strip or screw foundation, depending on soil, frost depth and what the permit requires. Frost depth varies regionally in Germany; the north and the central uplands need deeper founding than the Upper Rhine. The work is carried out locally; we supply the load assumptions and bearing points.
Up to the plot boundary by the local utilities, from there by local trades. Cost is driven almost entirely by the distance to the existing network. In many municipalities the wastewater connection is the single most expensive item when there is no sewer nearby.
Technically feasible, legally site-dependent: many municipalities require a connection to water and sewer where residential use is approved. Solar and storage therefore rarely replace servicing entirely.
Yes — Germany runs from the mild Upper Rhine into alpine snow load zones, and specification follows exactly that. Insulation thickness, glazed area, ventilation and heating system are decided together before production, not retrofitted.
By heating season, snow load zone and wind zone at the actual address. For permanent living in Bavaria or the Harz the build-up is noticeably heavier than for a summer unit on Lake Constance. A build-up that is enough for a summer unit is too thin for permanent living at the same address.
Ex-works base plus delivery gives the first number; foundation, connections, unloading, local planning, permit fees and insurance come on top. Count these from the start, or the budget moves after the order is placed.
MD 1 and MD 3 are planned most often in Germany: MD 1 for couples and holiday houses with a view, MD 3 as soon as a room that closes is needed for a home office or a child. Families then move to MD 2.
Short-term letting requires permission or notification in many cities and is limited in places by misuse-of-housing bylaws. On campsites and in holiday parks the operator's rules apply on top.
Transport cover for the delivery, building or natural-hazard cover for operation, and operator liability if you let it. Settle cover before delivery — afterwards your negotiating position is worse.
Five things: a written answer from the lower building authority of the district or independent city on admissibility; access and unloading point with photographs and dimensions; servicing and the distance to the network; the type of use with the number of people; and the budget range including the secondary items. With those five, an enquiry becomes a plannable project.
As of 2026-08-14. All figures are non-binding project guidance and not legal, authority, structural, energy or tax advice. Prices are ex-works indications; only a checked quotation is binding.