The problem of housing availability in Poland is large. Currently about 144,000 families are waiting for municipal housing in our country. Municipal resources are insufficient to fill the housing gap, even though statistics show there are about 2 million vacant properties in Poland. Many of them have an unregulated legal status. Some are private property. Many of the units owned by municipalities are in poor condition, so to make them habitable they require costly renovations, which municipalities simply cannot afford.
The government initiative announced by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy will help use these units for housing purposes.
More housing available for Poles
The ministry led by Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz announced that it would like to help municipalities allocate vacant units in their inventories. The institution that will handle this is the Social Rental Agency (SAN), which is already operating in the first Polish municipalities.
“SANs are a bridge connecting unoccupied units and vacant properties with people who are waiting for housing. They are also for people in the so‑called rent gap, who cannot afford commercial rent,” said Minister of Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz.
The implementation of SANs in municipalities will be supported by the Social Rental Development Center. So far consultations have been conducted with over 420 municipalities in the country to identify the biggest housing pain points they face. From these, 30 municipalities were selected where SANs will be introduced. These municipalities will receive free legal and tax advice. They include rural municipalities as well as large cities such as Łódź, Gdynia, and Toruń.
As announced by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, the Social Rental Agency is already operating in 15 municipalities in Poland, thanks to EU funds.
How can SANs help?
The Social Rental Agency, as the ministry led by Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz informs, is not meant to be another institution that merely creates an illusion of help, but one that actually impacts the housing needs of Poles. How will this happen? SANs will be able to use EU funds, which in cooperation with municipalities can be used to free up some vacant properties in municipal inventories for Poles waiting for municipal housing. It can be expected that some of the funds raised will be allocated to renovating such units.
This will not be the only way to improve the housing situation. The ministry also expects that new housing will arrive in our country at a rapid pace. These are currently being built, among others, by the National Real Estate Resource.
Of course, it cannot be said that municipalities waited for state help with open hands. They have taken many initiatives themselves, which, despite insufficient funds for renovating vacant properties, led to an increase in municipal housing available to residents. One such initiative is “Housing for Renovation”, which operates in several cities in the country. Among others in: Kielce, Szczecin, Kraków, and Kędzierzyn‑Koźle. Not all on exactly the same terms, but the program’s policy is consistent. It assumes that the city provides vacant units to residents on the waiting list for municipal housing. Residents who decide to do so with their own money renovate the unit, and the costs incurred can later be deducted from rent, which, for example, in Kielce, they may not have to pay for up to 5 years. In this way the municipality gets rid of vacant properties and gains a ready-to‑live municipal unit.
See also: Average cost of renting an apartment in Poland almost equal to the lowest national rate! Who can afford it?
