For most people buying a house, the most important criteria are price and interior comfort. But there are other equally important things that, if ignored, can turn your life into a nightmare. As a general rule, the local authority that gives permission for the blocks should not approve what is wrong and should protect the interests of the citizens. But in recent years, high-rise buildings have appeared without the necessary infrastructure, without reasonable distances between houses, without sidewalks, without green areas, without schools and kindergartens.

Here are some common sense things to look for when buying a new home, aside from interior comfort and attractive price, things real estate developers aren’t interested in telling you about.

Road infrastructure

The first and perhaps the most important is the road infrastructure. It is important to be able to easily leave/enter the neighborhood by car, call an ambulance, and call the fire department in the event of a fire. First of all, the street must be asphalted, then it must be generous, that is, two cars can pass parallel on it without problems, including two large vehicles, for example, a bus or a fire engine.

The connection to the nearest boulevard should be made through major streets, depending on the number of buildings in the area and according to how many buildings will be built in the area. For example, if on a street with one lane in each direction, hundreds of people living in a neighborhood of 20-30 blocks have to go to the boulevard, where traffic is less, it is clear that there will be traffic jams. A street with two lanes in each direction or at least a traffic light is needed.

The easiest is to do a rush hour test to see how quickly you can get from the house you want to buy, to work or to your children’s school/daycare. Also, be careful, if other constructions are allowed in this area, the situation will worsen with each built block, unless the road infrastructure is developed.

There have been many situations where there were only a few blocks in a certain neighborhood where people would buy and then dozens of new blocks would be built around it and people would drive 20-30 minutes to get off the street where I live.

If the residential complex has access to several streets, this is a plus.

Sidewalks matter

The sidewalk is a sign of the city’s civilization. It is important that the street you live on has a generous sidewalk so that you can walk home safely from the nearest bus or subway station, so that you can walk your baby in a stroller or your dog. And, very importantly, the sidewalk must be continuous, that is, you can walk from one end to the other without obstacles and without obstacles that force you to enter the roadway.

A plus is that the residential complex has high-quality public spaces – small areas without cars, where the community can spend time.

Public lighting and water supply and sewage networks

It is necessary to create infrastructure. It is important that the unit is connected to the water supply and sewage network. It is hard to believe that a septic tank or a well will cope with the needs of several tens or hundreds of apartments in a residential complex. Dozens of cases are known when sewers backed up, and people ended up with feces at home or on the street. Not to mention the smell and environmental protection.

It is also desirable that the unit is connected to the gas network, because the gas station in Bucharest is currently the most convenient and used source of heating.

Public lighting is also important. Check if this option is available on the street where you will live.

Distance between buildings

In the urban planning regulations of Bucharest, in general, the rule is that the distance between buildings located on the same plot should be half the height of the building, that is, in a 4-story block with a height of 16 m, the distance between two such buildings should be 8 meters. If they are on different lots, the rule is that the distance between the building and the property line is half the height. But the greater the distance between the buildings, the better.

However, a large number of Bucharest city halls approved the construction, citing the minimum distance from the Civil Code, 2 meters from the property line if the facade in question has windows, and 60 cm if there are no windows. So blocks of 4-5-10 floors were built at a distance of 4 meters.

A reasonable distance between the houses ensures first of all light and secondly privacy, you don’t want your neighbor to see you walking around the house naked and with the curtains drawn all the time. The law stipulates that living rooms (bedroom, living room) receive at least 1.5 hours of sunlight on the day of the winter solstice. But this is the minimum.

Green areas are not flat

In civilized cities, it is desirable to have a green zone approximately 500 meters from the house.

It is very important, especially if you have children or you do outdoor sports, to have a park or at least a playground at a reasonable distance from the house.

In addition, trees and greenery are important in residential areas, that is, not a sea of ​​concrete. Trees and grass “collect dust”, provide shade in the summer.

Since 2007, the capital’s mayor’s office has required that new urban developments have green spaces on 30% of the land, but this provision is rarely followed. The developers said they are either creating green areas on the roof or planting trees elsewhere.

Public transport is essential

When you buy a house, even if you have a car, it is important not to depend on it and that public transport is within a reasonable distance from the house, about 10 minutes on foot. Maybe the car breaks down, maybe owning a car is getting too expensive, maybe a family schedule or needs a change. The metro is the best form of transport in Bucharest, but ground transport also works very well if the tram/bus has a single lane.

It is also important to have direct transport between home, school/kindergarten and work.

Schools, kindergartens and hospitals

If you have children or want to, it is important to have a good kindergarten/school close to home, not to depend on a car. It is inconvenient to spend two hours in traffic every day with a child to get to nursery school/kindergarten/school. Not to mention that in public schools, priority is given to those who live in the area, so parents have to go to all sorts of tricks to enroll their children in a school where they are not assigned.

A plus is the hospital in the area.

Shop and market nearby

It is desirable that there is a food market or at least a minimarket at a reasonable distance from the house, so that you do not have to drive for half an hour in a traffic jam if you forgot to buy bread or milk.

Central block, advantage

The central unit is an advantage. A large part of the new buildings are built with a central apartment, with a chimney in the window, which some people appreciate, but it is a disaster for the environment. When everyone turns on the boiler, it is impossible to stay with an open apartment.

What can be built near your window

When you are buying a home, it is important to see if there are free plots of land nearby that you can build on, or whether these lands have urban planning documents approved or in the process of being approved.

The PUZ or PUD are usually posted on the websites of the municipalities, if not, they can be requested in accordance with Law 544/2001 on free access to information of public interest. It is important to look and see at what distance from your house it will be built and what height regime the new building will have.

They are sour people, they bought houses, and after a few years they woke up with a block in the window, or they bought apartments with a view of the lake or a park, or the block appeared opposite 4 meters from the window.

Read more detailed articles about how developers “steal” square meters from your house:

• How developers “steal” square meters from your house to build more apartments)
• How developers “steal” square meters from your house: 6 examples of kitchens to avoid when buying a home
• How developers “steal” square meters from your house: 6 examples of apartments where “open-space” actually means less usable area
• How developers “steal” square meters from your house: several examples that show that many apartments that are built today do not even meet the standards of communism