Elimination of rental-unit tax-breaks could effect entire housing industry

Elimination of rental-unit tax-breaks could effect entire housing industry Analysts of the real estate market believe that the immInent scrapping of housing tax-breaks could have an adverse ripple effect on the entire housing sector. The scrapping of the most controversial break for the construction of rental units could slow down this segment of the industry which accounts for about 20% of all housing starts. Rental units constitute a fast-growing market, representing only 4.3% of building projects in 1996, but rising to 17% in 1999. According to Housing Office (UM) director Zdzislaw Zydak, the government move could hamper an industry which has only recently risen from the doldrums. The tax-breaks made it possible for builders to receive rebates of up to zl. 150,000 per apartment, thus giving an incentive for further investment. Some analysts are warning this could cause rents to rise in the near future. (Zycie, p. 7).