Property law: Tips for getting your title

First of all, choose a well-known and experienced developer. You can easily check if your choice is approved by the Polish Association of Building Employers (Polski Zwišzek Pracodawców Budownictwa), which grants a Developer's Certificate (Certifikat Dewelopera) to developers who have attained a high standard of quality. Currently, 34 developers hold certificates. As always, when acquiring real estate, remember to verify the developer's title to the land offered for future investment, as well as all administrative decisions, in particular, the building permit: whether the developer is the addressee of the decision, if it covers all the plots of land designated for investment and if it is unconditional and final.

These days, residential developers are more commonly entering into reservation agreements with potential clients. This usually occurs when a developer has not yet been granted a building permit. Pay particular attention to the provisions regarding the reservation fee and what happens with the fee if either you or the developer fails to enter into the final agreement.

Ensure that the agreement to build the house or apartment and transfer the ownership title is concluded in the correct form. Developers often use the form of a preliminary real-estate purchase agreement instead of an obliging agreement (umowa zobowišzujšca) under the Ownership of Premises Act (ustawa o własnoœci lokali). One of the main differences between these two agreements is the legal consequences if a developer fails to perform its obligations.

If you have entered into the obliging agreement, you are entitled to sue in court for the completion of the works by a different developer at your developer's expense and risk. No such right is vested to you on the basis of a preliminary real-estate agreement, even if it is drawn up in the form of a notarial deed.

Under an obliging agreement, the developer, as the owner of the plot of land proposed for the housing investment, has to build the housing and establish, upon completion of the works, a separate ownership title for each apartment or house. The developer also has to transfer this title, made in the form of a notarial deed drawn up by a public notary, to the other party. The agreement should clearly describe the type, location and area of the real estate, as well as any additional constructions (for example basements or garages).

For the above agreement to be valid, the developer must be the owner of the real estate and hold a building permit. Finally, your application for the establishment of a separate ownership title should be entered in the Land and Mortgage Register kept for that real property. This will also enable the transfer of that title.

A final agreement establishing separate ownership title and transferring this title to you should also be drawn up in the form of a notarial deed. An appropriate entry into the respective Land and Mortgage Register is necessary to establish the ownership title.

Ewelina Laskowska is an associate at Linklaters

law firm. E-mail: ewelina.laskowska@linklaters.com