Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economic Development, Labour and Technology Jarosław Gowin stressed that solving the housing issues faced by Polish citizens is the priority for MEDLT.

We have prepared solutions which are going to significantly facilitate the access of Polish citizens to their own flats. These changes are one of the most important projects under the Polish New Deal. What we are doing now are not just mere announcements, these are facts. Social Housing Initiatives, i.e. flats of a particularly high standard - for rent, and with ownership options - are also going to be established throughout the entire country

– the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Yesterday, we have introduced two draft acts under the Polish New Deal to the schedule of legislative works of the Council of Ministers - regarding the housing voucher, mortgage loan repayment guarantees and no formalities for houses up to 70 sq. m. These projects were among the ten key components of the Polish New Deal which have been prepared by the MEDLT just a 100 days after it was announced

 – Anna Kornecka, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology said.

Housing voucher

The solution consists in providing direct support to families in renting or purchasing a flat/a single-family house. The housing voucher may be used in options depending on the performed housing aim, household size, and the occurrence of specific circumstances granting the right to use the support (i.e. the birth of another child in the family).

The Act is going to define the principles for granting, the implementation and settlement of the financial benefit in the following variants:

1. social housing voucher
2. family housing voucher

The social housing voucher will be granted to persons who do not own their own home and whose income limits their ability to obtain credit. It may be used towards participation in the costs of constructing a social housing with a rental (Social Housing Association/Social Housing Initiative) or for financing own financial contribution in a housing cooperative.

The family housing voucher is going to serve as a support instrument aimed at families with at least three children or persons with certified severe disability. This type of voucher may be used for the same purpose as the social voucher, and additionally for financing the purchase of a flat, issuing a building contribution or the costs of building a single-family house.

The family housing voucher may be granted to a person running a household who does not own a flat. At the same time, the designed solutions are going to lay out the exceptions allowing to obtain the support also in cases where families own another flat or home whose area does not exceed a specific limit (depending on the number of children in the family).

Detailed information

The housing voucher will be granted upon application, by a decision of the local organisational unit of the Social Insurance Institution.

The voucher can be redeemed between January 1st and December 31st December of the year following the year in which it was granted, with the possibility of extending its validity by another year – for a fee.

The funds will be transferred by intermediary banks – depending on the type of voucher - to the account of the relevant entity (i.e. Social Housing Association/Social Housing Initiative, Housing Cooperative, developer, etc.).

The total amount of support granted in the form of a voucher (both types) include the following amounts:

1. PLN 5000 - granted to a single natural person;
2. PLN 5000 - granted to a natural person with a spouse or another parent of the child within a single household;
3. PLN 15000 - granted for each child or person with disability within a single household;
4. PLN 45000 - granted under the family housing voucher to the person who runs a household and has never previously used another family housing voucher.

A family with three children is therefore going to receive PLN 100,000 when purchasing a flat. This amount is going to be increased by PLN 15,000 for each new child within the household.

Government guarantee programme for the repayment of mortgage loans

The Act is also going to introduce the legal basis for the government’s adoption of guarantee programme for persons with creditworthiness, who do not have the savings to cover own contribution required by banks. Under the proposed solution, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego is going to grant the borrower guarantee which may be used in place of the own contribution required by the banks. The provisions of the Act define the basic conditions to be met by the guarantee programme, as well as the persons entitled to use it. The assumptions submitted to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister state that the guarantee sum must not exceed 20% of the value of the purchased property and the total amount of PLN 100,000.

Housing voucher plus

Simultaneously, works are underway for the implementation of mortgage repayment assistance granted after childbirths announced under “Polish New Deal.” This version provides for the introduction of this instrument in the form of a third variant of the housing voucher – housing voucher plus. This voucher is going to be granted before the conclusion of the mortgage loan agreement to households which do not own an apartment. The voucher is going to be paid out after the purchase of a flat and after the birth of the second and subsequent children.

House without formalities (up to 70 sq. m)

One of the assumptions of the “Polish New Deal” programme includes introducing a change consisting in facilitating the construction of small, single-family housing units and individual recreation buildings with a total area of up to 70 sq. m without the need to obtain building permit, and without the requirement of appointing a construction manager and to maintain a construction site log. For that reason, the Construction Law Act and the Act on planning and land management must be amended with the introduction of new provisions facilitating the implementation of the aforementioned investments. The planned changes are going to allow to increase the speed and to simplify the investment-construction process, which is going to make it easier for future investors to construct the aforementioned buildings.

Digitalisation of the construction process

Since July 1st, the e-budownictwo online system allows to submit applications, among others, for construction with an attached parcel or land management project and the architectural-construction project. Other forms, including a form for initiating the legislative procedure are available at e-budownictwo.gunb.gov.pl. In total, 23 forms may be submitted online.

The Central Registry of Building Emissivity (Centralna Ewidencja Emisyjności Budynków, CEEB), launched on July 1st at zone.gunb.gov.pl is a tool for submitting declarations on the sources of low-emission heat and fuel combustion - for all citizens who own property as well as persons responsible for building management. The registry is to become a comprehensive database on the sources of heat used in Polish homes and buildings. The obligation to submit declarations on the sources of heat in buildings in Poland was introduced on July 1st - it relates, among others, to coal and natural gas heaters, fireplaces and photovoltaics. The declarations may be submitted on paper or online under CEEB. The owners and managers of buildings who have a source with a power output of up to 1 MW must submit the document within 12 months - in the case of existing buildings or 14 days - in the case of new buildings.