Basel: Canton relaxes building regulations
To address the housing shortage in Basel, the government wants to relax building regulations and make it easier to add attic floors. To this end, the government council of the city canton is proposing an amendment to the Building and Planning Act to the Grand Council.
In the future, according to a statement by the canton of Basel-Stadt, both existing attics and those of new buildings to be constructed will be able to be converted to an increased extent into independent living units.
Specifically, the access to the attic floors is to be facilitated by staircases and elevators; in addition, a second attic floor (gable roof or parapet) is to be permitted even on plots that are already overused. Newly, "fallow flat roofs" above the first attic should also be able to be used as a terrace if the usable flat roof area exceeds the permissible gross floor area for open buildings and components.
With the submission to the Grand Council, the Building and Transportation Department is partially implementing an idea that had already been outlined by the young SP party in May. At that time, the Young Socialists published a concept paper by architect Lukas Gruntz, who used the example of a four-story house to show how a roof extension could increase the existing living space of 220 by 140 square meters. (ah)
