Residential construction permits hit five year high

This is a five year record high. Building houses has again become a very attractive venture due to high costs of purchasing a flat and related standing charges on such apartments. In Warsaw, an average flat, once fully competed and furnished, costs zł.6,000-7,000 per square metre, while a detached house can be built ready-to-live-in for about zł.3,000 per square metre. However, flats are still popular - in the first 4 months of 2006 some 17,200 building permits concerning flats were issued, which is 37% more than a year ago. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 22) J.L.