Erschließungsbeitrag in Germany: who pays after you buy

Buyers from abroad are often surprised by a letter that arrives a few months after they have moved in: a notice from the municipality (Gemeinde) charging a five-figure sum for the street in front of the house, payable within a month. It is the Erschließungsbeitrag, a one-off charge for building the road and its lighting, pavements and drainage for the first time. The seller may have owned the land when the road was built. The bill still goes to you.

That is not an accident of drafting. Under section 134(1) of the Federal Building Code (Baugesetzbuch, BauGB) the person liable is whoever owns the plot when the assessment notice is delivered. Section 134(2) adds that the charge rests on the land as a public encumbrance. The Würzburg administrative court applied this in a judgment of 28 July 2022 (W 3 K 18.675): where ownership changes after the liability arose but before the notice is delivered, the new owner owes the charge personally, and the former owner does not.

This guide explains what the charge pays for, how municipalities calculate it, the time limit set by Germany's Constitutional Court, how to find out before buying whether a bill is still to come, and what your notarial contract should say. It is an overview, not legal advice.

Key terms

Key terms

German term	Meaning
Erschließungsbeitrag	one-off charge for the first construction of the road and related infrastructure
Erschließungsanlage	the road, footpath, lighting, drainage and similar works being charged for
Beitragsbescheid	the assessment notice; liability depends on who owns the plot when it arrives
Erschließungsbeitragssatzung	the municipality's bylaw setting out how the charge is calculated
Vollgeschoss	a "full storey" as defined in state law; more storeys mean a higher share
Vorausleistung	advance payment before the road is finished
Ablösung	a contract fixing the charge in advance, replacing the later assessment
Anliegerbescheinigung	the municipality's written statement on charges for a plot
Straßenausbaubeitrag	a separate charge for upgrading an existing road, abolished in many states
Notar	the notary who drafts and records the purchase contract

Source: Figures from this guide, documented under “Sources”

What the charge pays for

The charge covers the first construction of roads that give access to building plots, with carriageway, footpaths, lighting and drainage, as well as some footpaths, parking areas and green spaces where they form part of the access. Under section 127(1) BauGB the municipality must levy it to cover its costs; it cannot waive it as a favour.

Upgrading a road that is already complete is different. That may lead to a Straßenausbaubeitrag under state law, or to nothing, because many states have abolished those charges. See our guide to costs, taxes and fees. The trap for buyers: a road used for decades can still be legally unfinished, for example because footpaths or lighting were never built to the standard in the bylaw. Then the first-construction charge can still arrive.

This area of law now belongs to the federal states. Sections 127 ff. BauGB continue to apply as federal law until a state replaces them with its own rules (Art. 125a(1) of the Basic Law). Bavaria has done so: according to the Federal Administrative Court, Art. 5a of the Bavarian Municipal Charges Act, as amended on 8 March 2016, governs there (decision of 29.11.2021, 9 B 7.21). The opening line of the municipality's charges bylaw names the legal basis that applies to your plot.

How it is calculated

1. Eligible cost of the road, including buying the land for it.
2. The municipality's share. The municipality bears part of the cost itself. Section 129(1) sentence 3 BauGB requires a minimum share, and the bylaw sets the figure (section 132 no. 2). Oschatz in Saxony, for example, states in its bylaw that it bears 10% and passes 90% to owners.
3. Split between plots, by plot area, often only up to a set depth from the road (40 m in Schwedt/Oder), multiplied by a use factor for the number of full storeys. In Neuenhagen near Berlin the factor is 1.0 for one full storey, plus 0.25 for each further storey; Schotten in Hesse uses 1.25 for two, 1.5 for three and 1.75 for four storeys.
4. Rate per m²: the cost to be passed on, divided by the total of all weighted areas, times yours.

Worked example with assumed figures. A 300 m access road is built for the first time at an eligible cost of €900,000.

• Municipal share 10%: €90,000. Passed to owners: €810,000.
• Total weighted area of all plots (assumed): 30,000 m². Rate: 810,000 / 30,000 = €27.00 per m².
• Your plot: 700 m², two full storeys allowed (factor 1.25): 700 × 1.25 = 875 m².
• Your charge: 875 × €27.00 = €23,625.

A real comparison from Saxony: a case before the Saxon Higher Administrative Court concerned a 2,828 m² plot for which the municipality had set advance payments of €29,990.94, about €10.61 per m² of plot. Depending on the road, the municipality and the storey factor, charges per plot range from a few thousand to several tens of thousands of euros.

Note the storey factor: in many bylaws it follows what the development plan allows, not what is built. A bungalow on a plot zoned for two storeys can be charged as if it had two.

When liability arises and when the notice comes

Liability arises when the road is finally completed and other legal conditions are met, such as formal dedication to public use and a valid bylaw. Years can pass between the end of works and the notice, while the municipality settles accounts, completes land purchases or fixes its bylaw. Plots are sold in that gap, and that is when section 134(1) catches buyers.

The municipality may also charge advance payments before liability arises, and agree a buy-out (Ablösung) with owners that settles the future charge in full (section 133(3) BauGB). A buy-out is a public-law contract; the Federal Administrative Court has held that it only works if it covers the whole charge and is agreed before liability arises (judgments of 21 January 2015, 9 C 2.14 and others). Advance payments made by the seller are credited to the plot at final assessment, so they benefit you as the new owner, unless your contract says how to compensate the seller.

The charge is due one month after the notice is delivered (section 135(1) BauGB). The municipality may allow it to be converted into annual instalments over up to ten years, with interest on the balance (section 135(3)). On the €23,625 example that would be about €2,360 a year plus interest of at most 2 percentage points above the base rate under section 247 of the Civil Code (section 135(3) sentence 3 BauGB). Whether the municipality allows instalments is at its discretion, and you have to apply.

The time limit: no more bills after decades

For a long time, municipalities could charge decades after a road was built, because the limitation period only started once liability arose, and that could be postponed indefinitely. Germany's Federal Constitutional Court stopped this in a decision of 3 November 2021 (1 BvL 1/19): a Rhineland-Palatinate rule allowing charges without time limit after the benefit became available was incompatible with legal certainty under the Basic Law. The court left the exact period to legislators, but found that a thirty-year cut-off unrelated to the special circumstances of reunification was not enough.

States have responded differently. The Federal Administrative Court accepted a 20-year limit in judgments of 15 November 2022 (including 9 C 19/21). North Rhine-Westphalia introduced a 10-year cut-off after the benefit became available in 2022 (section 3 of its BauGB implementing act, GV. NRW. 2022 p. 671), plus an absolute limit of 25 years from the start of construction, with transitional rules for older cases. Other states set their own limits; ask the municipality which one it applies. If the road in front of the house has been usable for more than 20 years, ask whether a notice would still be lawful at all. For large sums, an administrative law specialist (Fachanwalt für Verwaltungsrecht) can answer that.

Before you buy: finding out whether a bill is coming

Before you buy: finding out whether a bill is coming

1. Ask the municipality for an Anliegerbescheinigung with the seller's written authority. It states whether charges for the roads in front of the plot have been assessed, whether more are expected, and whether advance payments were made. Ask precisely: "Have development charges for [street] been assessed for parcel [number]? Are charges expected, and roughly how much at today's estimate?" Ask beforehand whether the municipality charges a fee for it.
2. Read the municipality's bylaw online: storey factors, depth limit, municipal share.
3. Look at the street. A road without pavements or lighting in a new estate, a temporary surface (Baustraße), or a private road the municipality intends to adopt are warning signs.
4. Check the development plan: how many full storeys are allowed on the plot, which drives the factor.
5. Ask separately about water and sewer charges (Anschlussbeiträge), which are a different charge levied by the municipality or a utility association, and about house connection costs from the utility. An Anliegerbescheinigung for road charges says nothing about them.
6. New estates: if a developer built the roads under an urban development contract with the municipality (section 11(1) sentence 2 no. 1 BauGB), the cost is usually in the plot price, and such contracts can make the developer bear all of it. Ask to see what the contract says for your plot. If the municipality sells the plot "free of development charges" (erschließungsbeitragsfrei), the purchase contract should say so and name the bought-out amount.

Source: Figures from this guide, documented under “Sources”

Questions to send the seller and agent before the notary appointment

Send these in writing and keep the answers with your contract papers:

1. Has the municipality ever sent you a notice for development charges, advance payments or a buy-out for this plot? Please send copies.
2. Is the road in front of the plot finished to its final standard, with pavement, lighting and drainage? When were the last works?
3. Are works on the street planned, or has the municipality written to owners about them?
4. Have you received any notices for water or sewer connection charges, and were they paid?
5. Do you agree to an Anliegerbescheinigung being requested in your name before signing?

A seller who will not authorise the request is telling you something. A seller who answers yes to question 2 and no to question 1 for a road built in the last 20 years is describing exactly the situation in which notices arrive after a sale.

A realistic timeline

For a plot on a new estate the sequence often looks like this: the developer builds a temporary construction road, plots are sold and houses built, and only when most houses are finished is the final surface, footpath and lighting added. The municipality then settles its accounts, which can take a year or more, and sends notices to whoever owns each plot at that point. Between buying a plot and receiving the notice, five years or more can pass. Budget for it from the start.

What the notarial contract should say

Because the notice goes to whoever owns the plot when it arrives, who bears the cost between seller and buyer is purely a matter for the contract. The municipality is not bound by it. German notaries propose clauses that split charges at a cut-off point, for example the state of works on the day the contract is signed, or the date of the notice. Read which cut-off your draft uses and what it means for a road that is finished but not yet charged.

Points to raise with the notary:

• Charges for works already finished at signing: who bears them? Without a clause, in practice you do.
• Security: part of the price can stay in the notary's escrow account (Notaranderkonto) until the municipality confirms nothing more is due, or the seller undertakes to reimburse.
• Advance payments made by the seller: these benefit the plot; agree whether the seller is compensated.

For buyers from abroad. The notarial contract is read aloud in German and is binding on signing, with no cooling-off period. If you do not speak German, the notary must make sure you understand it, usually through an interpreter, and you can ask for a translated draft in advance; this clause is one to have translated word for word. Give the municipality a German address or a representative for notices: the one-month payment deadline runs from delivery, and a notice sitting unopened in an empty house still counts.

If the notice has already arrived

• Note the deadline. Depending on the state, you can file an objection (Widerspruch) or go straight to the administrative court; the deadline, usually one month, is in the notice. You still have to pay meanwhile: a challenge to a demand for public charges has no suspensive effect (section 80(2) sentence 1 no. 1 of the Administrative Court Procedure Code, VwGO). To suspend payment, apply to the municipality first; a court application is normally admissible only after it refuses (section 80(6) VwGO).
• Have it checked. Common errors: wrong plot area or depth limit, wrong storey factor, ineligible costs included, road not actually finished, time limit expired.
• Read your contract. If the seller must pay under the contract, write to them with a deadline.
• Ask for instalments if you cannot pay at once.
• Inspect the file: the municipality's cost calculation, the area distribution and the bylaw. Errors are often found there.

The development plan with permitted storeys, the parcel and its area, a dated aerial photo and the standard land value for your plot are in the GrundCheck report, each with its source: €29 in one language, €39 in English and German. Whether development charges have been assessed is something only the municipality can confirm. Select the plot on the map → · See a sample report

For your request to the municipality you need the parcel number, the cadastral district (Gemarkung) and the area; they are on the first page of the report. Order the report for this plot → · See a sample report

Sources

• Federal Building Code (BauGB), sections 127, 129, 133, 134, 135, gesetze-im-internet.de, accessed via search engine 2.11.2026; section 134 also at lexetius.com (1); section 135 at lexetius.com (2).
• Würzburg Administrative Court, judgment of 28.7.2022, W 3 K 18.675, gesetze-bayern.de, 2.11.2026.
• Federal Constitutional Court, order of 3.11.2021, 1 BvL 1/19; summary in DATEV magazin, datev-magazin.de, 2.11.2026.
• Federal Administrative Court, judgments of 15.11.2022, 9 C 19/21 and others, via rewis.io; judgments of 21.1.2015, 9 C 2.14 and others (buy-out), via app.omnilex.ai, 2.11.2026.
• North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament papers 17/16553 and 17/16916, opal.landtag.nrw.de, 2.11.2026.
• Municipal bylaws: Neuenhagen bei Berlin, neuenhagen-bei-berlin.de; Schotten, schotten.de; Oschatz, oschatz.org, 2.11.2026.
• Saxon Higher Administrative Court decision on advance payments (2,828 m², €29,990.94), justiz.sachsen.de, 2.11.2026.
• Buy-out guidelines: Meinheim (VG Altmühltal), vg-altmuehltal.digiportal.de; Südbrookmerland, suedbrookmerland.de, 2.11.2026.
• City of Hanover, information on development charges, hannover.de, 2.11.2026.
• Federal Administrative Court, decision of 29.11.2021 – 9 B 7.21, app.omnilex.ai, 2.11.2026.
• Winsen (Aller), commentary on its development charges bylaw (sections 129(1) sentence 3 and 132 no. 2 BauGB), winsen-aller.de; Bavarian Interior Ministry, relief measures in development charges law, stmi.bayern.de, 2.11.2026.
• North Rhine-Westphalia, GV. NRW. 2022 p. 671, recht.nrw.de; state parliament paper 18/1919, opal.landtag.nrw.de, 2.11.2026.
• Munich administrative court, decision of 26.3.2021 – M 28 S 20.1155 (development contract), gesetze-bayern.de, 2.11.2026.
• Section 80 VwGO, lexetius.com; Bavarian Administrative Court, decision of 22.9.2021 – 6 CS 21.2257, gesetze-bayern.de, 2.11.2026.