In today's article from the series "Tuesday Mornings for the Construction Industry," we present an updated draft amendment to the Spatial Planning and Development Act ("UPZP"), the original text of which, from October 2022, was updated following consultations last week at the Joint Government and Local Government Committee meeting. This draft is listed on the Council of Ministers' List of Legislative and Programmatic Works under number UD316 ("Draft"), and while it is not yet available on the RCL website, it was available on the website of the Association of Polish Counties. Of course, the starting point for these changes is the 2023 planning reform.
Extension of deadlines by two months
According to the current version of the Draft, the legislator assumes that the key deadline for adopting general municipal plans and the expiry of the study of conditions and directions of spatial development of municipalities will be extended to August 31, 2026. This means that municipalities will gain two additional months to adopt them.
Similarly, the postponement of deadlines also means an extension of the deadlines related to the procedures for obtaining resolutions on the location of residential investments or decisions of the WZ.
ZPI – consent of the municipal council
The draft bill proposes adding new sections 1a and 2a to Article 37ec of the Public Planning and Development Act. The new section 1a will stipulate that the municipal council may withdraw its consent to adopt the ZPI no later than the date of signing the urban planning agreement. The new section 2a will stipulate that the municipal council's consent to the ZPI process, once issued, remains valid regardless of the scope of changes to the ZPI draft itself, made during the negotiations, review, consultation, and public consultations.
The municipal council is also obligated to adopt a resolution on the Integrated Investment Plan (IIP) within two months of the submission of the integrated investment plan, which is an annex to the urban planning agreement, along with a report. This is intended to prevent postponement of resolutions on the adoption of the IIP, since the urban planning agreement with the municipality has already been signed.
Urban planning agreement
The draft introduces several significant adjustments to the urban planning agreement. First, it clarifies the investor's ability to commit to providing services to a public entity, as defined by the Public-Private Partnership Act, rather than just to the municipality itself.
Secondly, the legislator wants to explicitly allow the investor to finance the costs of the ZPI procedure, in whole or in part, before concluding the urban planning agreement. The new provision will stipulate that the urban planning agreement may, in particular, specify the deadline and method for paying and settling advance payments for activities undertaken in the ZPI approval procedure.
Limiting the issuance of decisions on development conditions (WZ)
One of the most unexpected changes concerns Article 63 of the Act. If the Draft is adopted, only an entity with the right to dispose of the property for construction purposes will be able to obtain a WZ decision, and the application will have to be accompanied by a declaration of such right under penalty of criminal liability.
In practice, this will mean that applications for development consent (WZ) cannot be submitted without legal title, meaning by entities that do not obtain the consent of the property owner. This is another step towards limiting the use of WZs in spatial planning and development.
Downtown development
The project also assumes the introduction of an obligation to specify in the local plan and decisions on development conditions the area of downtown development in the area indicated in the general plan.
Additionally, the transitional provisions confirm the continuity of the already designated city centre areas, both in the existing studies of conditions and directions of spatial development of the municipalities and in the local spatial development plans.
Transitional provisions
One important solution is to clarify the transitional provisions.
The bill confirms that local plans adopted before the amendment entered into force remain in force and may be amended. Previous resolutions establishing the location of residential or associated developments also remain in force and may be amended.
Additionally, Articles 9-12 of the draft specify which provisions will apply to cases and proceedings initiated and not completed, i.e. in the case of the adoption of local plans, the issuance of development plans and decisions on the location of public purpose investments, ZPI and resolutions on determining the location of a residential investment or an accompanying investment.
In summary, the draft already envisages another amendment to the Spatial Planning and Development Act. While many of these changes are very necessary and likely address practical implementation issues, it is important to remember that when determining the applicable standard in a given case, it is important to consider not only its current wording but also the transitional provisions that specify whether a given provision will apply or not.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of March 2, 2026.
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