Legal Highlights for Real Estate – March 2024

1. The end of the transition period of the Act of 20 May 2021 on the protection of the rights of the purchaser of a residential unit or a detached house and the Developer Guarantee Fund (Deweloperski Fundusz Gwarancyjny) and the intervention of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów) (“UOKIK”).

The two-year transition period provided for in the Act of 20 May 2021 on the protection of the rights of the purchaser of a residential unit or a single-family home and the Developer Guarantee Fund (hereinafter the “Act”) will end on July 1 of this year. During the transition period, the completion of development projects carried out under the previous law regulating these issues, the Act of September 16, 2011 on the Protection of the Rights of the Purchaser of a Residential Unit or Single-Family Home, was allowed. From July 1 of this year, only the provisions of the Act will apply. The regulations will cover newly executed development agreements.

In March, UOKIK raised doubts with the Ministry of Development and Technology regarding the amount of contributions paid to the Developer Guarantee Fund on payments made to the housing trust account. A legal loophole was identified with regard to the amount of contributions for property development projects whose sales started before 1 July 2022, i.e. before the entry into force of the Ordinance of the Minister of Development and Technology of 21 June 2022 on the percentage rates according to which the amount of the contribution to the Developer Guarantee Fund is calculated. The solution proposed by the UOKIK for this scenario is to adopt a rate of zero, as there is no legal basis for calculating the rate. The Office is currently working on a solution to close this loophole.

2. Draft Act amending the Act – Construction Law and certain other Acts – postulated changes.

On February 29, 2024, the Draft Act on Amendments to the Act – Construction Law and Certain Other Acts (number on the list of legislative works of the Council of Ministers: UD22) (hereinafter the “Draft”) was made available in the Public Information Bulletin of the Government Legislation Center, under the tab Government Legislative Process.

The purpose of the changes proposed in the Draft is to simplify and accelerate the investment and construction process, which is to be achieved, inter alia, by:

• extending the catalogue of construction objects and works exempted from the obligation to obtain a construction permit decision (hereinafter “construction permit”), as well as from the obligation to make a notification to the competent public administration body;
• clarifying and extending definitions that raise interpretation doubts.

Building objects and works requiring only a notification are to include, among others, backyard shelters and temporary hiding places defined in the Project, with a usable area of up to 35 m², kiosks and pavilions for street sales with a usable area of no more than 15 m², freestanding communication facilities and telecommunication containers with a usable area of up to 35 m² with installations and connections and associated networks. 

The aim to eliminate interpretation doubts reported by participants in the construction process and public administration authorities is reflected in the amendment to the definition of construction works, by extending its content with the following fragment “(works consisting in …) and installation of devices in or on a construction object“, or explicit formulation of the possibility to roof terraces exempt from the obligation to obtain a construction permit or notification requirement.

The planned date of adoption of the Draft, currently at the stage of opinion, agreement and public consultation, is the second quarter of 2024.