Power lines, wind turbines, cemeteries: restrictions you can't see in a plot photo
The local plan and zoning-conditions decisions aren't the only rules deciding where — and whether — a house can go. Alongside them run 'horizontal' restrictions from separate statutes, which apply regardless of what the plot's designation says. They're invisible in a listing photo.
Four restrictions outside the plan
| Restriction | Distance / reach | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wind turbine | 10x the turbine's total height (roughly 700 m in practice for typical turbines) — new residential buildings are banned within it | 2016 wind-farm investments act |
| Cemetery | 50 m from the boundary with a mains-water connection, 150 m without — residential building banned | 1959 regulation |
| Heritage conservation zone / listed building | the boundaries of the zone or the registered/listed object — requires the heritage conservator's approval | monuments protection act |
| High-voltage power line | a technical strip whose width depends on voltage (110/220/400 kV) — building and planting restrictions under and near the line | grid operator standards |
Why it's easy to miss
None of these restrictions is written into the plot's designation in the local plan, and none changes the land-use code in the cadastral register. A plot can carry a fully 'clean' MN designation in the plan and still sit inside an exclusion buffer from a nearby wind turbine that bars residential building — because the two regimes operate completely independently of each other.
The restriction doesn't only protect future residents from noise and shadow flicker — it also works in reverse: if you want to build a house within roughly 700 m of an existing or planned wind turbine, the authority will refuse the permit regardless of whether the plan otherwise allows it.
How to check this while you're still viewing the plot
- 1Check the map for a wind turbine, existing or planned, within roughly 700 m of the plot.
- 2Check the distance to the nearest cemetery and whether the plot has a mains-water connection — that changes the threshold from 50 to 150 metres.
- 3Check whether the plot or a building on it appears in the municipal heritage inventory or the national heritage register — even an old barn can be protected.
- 4Check the route of high-voltage lines on the utility-infrastructure map, not just from visible pylons.
Frequently asked questions
No — it's ten times that specific turbine's total height (blade tip vertical included), so taller, newer turbines carry a larger buffer than 700 m. Check the specific installation's parameters, not just the rough figure.
No — the restriction applies when issuing new building permits; it doesn't require demolishing existing, previously legal development.
The municipal heritage inventory is kept by the town hall and isn't always fully published online — sometimes you need to ask the architecture office directly or check it through the National Heritage Institute's spatial data layers.
See these zones on the map before you buy
The land map overlays the power-grid layer with wind-turbine buffers, heritage-conservation zones, and nature-protection areas on a single map with the plot boundaries.