- Less than 400 buildings were built under the new regulations within six months of the operation of the Home without formalities program
- To encourage the construction of such housing have free projects. So far 22 such projects have been made available, eventually there will be 70
- Despite its low popularity, the government has announced the extension of the program. From January, all homes, regardless of size, can be built without a permit application
- More such information can be found on the main page of Onet.pl
From January 3, 2022, owners of building plots can build a house up to 70 m² in a simplified procedure, for which they do not need a permit, the application itself is sufficient. The rulers had such an idea to increase access to their own M in Polish Lada.
“In Lada, Poland, we have been thinking about liberalizing the construction law while maintaining safety standards,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on the program.
It is difficult to announce its success during the six months of the program’s operation. Less than 400 such houses were built. Until May 31, just over 300 such houses were built. Meanwhile, in the same period, Poles received a building permit for 42 thousand. 76 houses.
Unclear regulations deter investors
Why are houses without formalities not popular? There are several reasons for this. First of all, such houses can be built without a construction manager and without a construction book. This is judged unfavorably by banks that refuse to credit such investments. In addition, there is the matter of submitting a statement stating that the construction will serve its own housing. This, in turn, raises concerns about what to do with the house in the future, when plans change and the house needs to be sold or rented again. The government states that property can be sold if plans are changed, but only practice will show how such moves are handled. Many people also worry about whether a house that has been built without formalities will be resold at all in the future. Buyers may be reluctant to buy them.
– In my opinion, the Poles do not trust this solution. The regulations are unclear and discourage investors from going down this road. Building a house is often the most important investment in a family’s life, and Poles look for certain solutions in this type of activity. In addition, the lack of a construction manager and supervision of it makes it practically impossible to take out a loan to finance such a property. The number of such houses built proves that the project needs improvement. Saving on the construction manager means saving on the safety of Poland – says Mariusz Dobrzeniecki, president of the National Council of the Polish Chamber of Civil Engineers.
The cabinet wants to encourage Poland to build such homes by providing free house designs up to 70 m². The designs can be downloaded free of charge from the website of the General Building Inspection Service. They were selected in a competition for architects. So far 22 projects have been made available, eventually there will be 70.
All houses on request only
While the formality-free home building program did not radically change the market, the government announced its extension. As reported, the Ministry of Development and Technology is working on clearing construction permits for single-family homes without restricting the area. The changes would come into effect in January 2023.
“By consistently pursuing policies that promote the satisfaction of citizens’ housing needs, we aim to expand the possibility of building single-family homes for personal use in a simplified procedure, without limiting usable space” – said Minister of Development and Technology Waldemar Buda at the press conference.
Don’t the new government plans mean that Poles will completely turn away from building houses up to 70 m² and build bigger ones, since in their case they don’t need to obtain permits either? There is no such danger. The procedure for building houses without a permit and regardless of size has been in force in Poland since 2015 and not many people use it. Information from Statistics Netherlands shows that this option is only chosen by less than 2 percent. houses builders.
Programs are needed to facilitate access to a roof over your head, but Mariusz Dobrzeniecki, chairman of the National Council of the Polish Chamber of Civil Engineers, says the government is heading in the wrong direction. – The announced project has many unclear elements. On the one hand, I appreciate and support the simplification of the construction process, especially for individual investors. On the other hand, I have the impression that the government is looking for solutions and not where it should be. This deregulation aims to save Poland 30 days waiting for permits to be issued in the office, and take responsibility for issuing building permits from the officials themselves. From then on, this responsibility rests with the designer and construction manager and this will certainly increase the construction cost of the investment. At the moment, the main problem in the construction of single-family homes is utility suppliers – water, electricity, gas, sewage. It is their connections and decisions that wait the longest – says Mariusz Dobrzeniecki, pointing to these places as the biggest obstacle to the implementation of housing investments.