Cut rent with ramps

Tenants of commercial units in Warsaw can have their rents lowered if they adapt their premises to disabled persons' needs. However, few owners have taken advantage of the scheme even though the regulation has been in force since December last year.

"Not a single tenant has applied so far in this issue," said Stanisław Samoraj from the Real Estate Management Unit (ZGN) in the Mokotów district. The authorities have now launched an information campaign to promote the issue.

More than 9,000 tenants in Warsaw will receive brochures informing them exactly what to do to retrieve 100 percent of the costs of adapting their premises to make them accessible to disabled people. Between October 19 and November 19, 10 disabled people will be distributing the leaflets.

"I've had enough of situations in which I and my friends using wheelchairs are not able to go into a cafe or do shopping in a local shop. Tenants ... will gain new customers," said one of the activists. "In order to make Warsaw a city without barriers it is necessary to make changes not only in the infrastructure but also in the awareness of investors, tenants, and architects," said the president of the Friends of Integration Association, Piotr Pawłowski.

To benefit from the scheme a tenant must apply to a ZGN in order to present the range and costs of the adaptation works.

The case is then passed to the District Management, which takes the final decision. Warsaw is the first city in Poland to introduce such a regulation.