Freeing up the land

The Ministry of Construction has started inter-departmental consultations on a bill that could allow more land for residential construction on to the market. According to a statement from the Ministry, the current law, which says that manage Treasury-owned land decide of their own free will how much and for what purposes land is sold off, is not sufficient. In this case it is necessary to introduce more effective legal instruments that simplify the acquisition of land for residential construction.

If the new law is enacted, the Military Property Agency, the Agricultural Property Agency and county presidents (starostowie) administrating public plots will have to designate land for residential purposes and give it in perpetual usufruct to developers, provided that their residential project is constructed within a fixed period of time.

Gminas will be first in line to receive this land and those gminas constructing social housing will not have to pay any initial fee, only annual fees. If the gminas do not agree to these conditions, the land will be sold by tender to other interested parties, such as developers, investors and housing associations.

However, if any developer, whether gmina-based or commercial, does not implement a contract, the Treasury will have the right to cancel its agreement and reclaim the land.

The Ministry of Construction hopes that this new law will alleviate the dearth of land on the market.