House is set to be demolished by German authorities after four-year legal battle because it is 3ft too tall

By SABRINA PENTY

Published: 10:40 BST, 14 May 2025 | Updated: 11:20 BST, 14 May 2025

A house in Germany is set to be demolished after local officials said its roof is 3ft too high, violating building regulations. 

Tenant Jens Riediger, a 57-year-old engineer, his partner and their four children have until spring next year to find a new home after the Bavarian administrative court in Munich made the demolition order final. 

The ruling has put an end to a lengthy four-year court battle between Riediger and local authorities, but the father-of-four claims that other houses in his village of  Wolfratshausen, south of Munich, have taller roofs.  

‘Living space worth millions of euros is going to be destroyed. And this only because the roof is [3ft] too high, and because a garage was built instead of a carport [roofed shelter] and the ground was filled in,’ Riediger, 57, told German outlet Bild. 

The dispute has been ongoing since 2021, after a court confirmed the demolition of the house. 

The house’s developers suggested a plan to correct the property’s regulatory defects, but the offer was rejected by the local court, which looked into the possibility of turning the house into a women’s shelter. 

A spokesman for the Wolfratshausen district office defended the demolition decision, telling Bild that the house had serious defects. 

‘The significant deviations [from planning regulations] consisted of embankments, higher walls, roofs with different pitches and the construction of a garage instead of a carport,’ they said. 

Tenant Jens Riediger’s house is set to be demolished after a German court ruled its roof was too high 

The ruling puts puts an end to a four-year-long court battle between Riediger, from Wolfratshausen, and local authorities. Picture shows general view of the German village of Wolfratshausen in Bavaria 

Riediger’s house is one of three homes such under demolition orders in Upper Bavaria. 

It comes after a British woman was ordered to demolish her newbuild six-bedroom home by her local council after it was called ‘unneighbourly and overbearing’.

Neighbours complained the ‘eyesore’ property in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, blocks all the light from their garden and was not built in accordance with planning regulations.

The dispute centres on a two-storey extension at the back of the house on Marlow Road which comes out further than what was approved in the original plans.

Locals on Marlow Road have accused the homeowner of ‘trying their luck’ and said it appeared to be a case of ‘build what you want now and ask for forgiveness later’.

They suggested they may have got into ‘competition’ with an even bigger home that was recently approved by the council and built on the road.

Documents on Buckinghamshire Council’s website show that permission was last year granted for a six-bed home with three parking spaces to be built on the site.

But subsequent plans for a similar sized home on the plot of land were refused by the local authority in March.

Now the owners have been told they must demolish the new property or comply with the conditions of the approved plans.

In an enforcement notice issued last month, Buckinghamshire Council said: ‘By reason of its size, depth, height and design, the rear two storey projection results in a significant loss of light to the adjacent residential properties.

‘[It] appears as an unneighbourly and overbearing structure when viewed from both adjacent properties, significantly diminishing the outlook and general amenity previously enjoyed by their existing residents.

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House is set to be demolished by German authorities after four-year legal battle because it is 3ft too tall

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