Knowing that returning to work after Easter can be difficult, we decided that today we would prepare a short alert for you regarding two interesting pieces of information about possible changes in the law, i.e. the new development act and the transformation of perpetual usufruct into ownership for land other than land developed with residential buildings.
We will begin with information about the parliamentary draft bill amending the Act of May 20, 2021, on the protection of the rights of purchasers of residential premises or single-family homes and on the Developer Guarantee Fund (the " new Developer Act "). The draft is exceptionally short and extends the entry into force of the new Developer Act from 12 to 24 months . Therefore, if adopted, the new Developer Act would enter into force on July 1, 2023, not July 1, 2022.
In their justification, the bill's authors cite compelling arguments raised by the industry during the legislative process, pointing out that it will contribute to rising housing prices and declining buyers' creditworthiness. Interestingly, the bill's authors noted that "the adopted act also does not introduce any rules regarding oversight of the DFG, regarding liability for actions or omissions. The disbursement of funds is not subject to any secondary verification, which means there is no liability for fulfilling benefits from this fund." Furthermore, a regulation establishing the percentage rate to be paid into the Developers' Guarantee Fund has not yet been issued .
As for the possibility of this bill coming into force, it should be approached with caution. The bill was introduced by members of parliament from the Polish Coalition, which has 24 members. Furthermore, media reports indicate that neither the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection nor the Ministry of Development and Technology plans to postpone the entry into force of the new developer law, meaning this idea may not gain sufficient support in the Sejm.
Moving on to the second piece of news worth mentioning, this is another step toward the Ministry of Development and Technology's planned amendment to the Real Estate Management Act, which will make it possible to convert perpetual usufruct rights to land into ownership rights, starting in 2023, even for properties used for commercial purposes . The Ministry has already received the green light from the European Commission on this matter. As announced, the conversion will not be legally enforceable, as was the case with residential properties, but upon application. Unfortunately, it will likely involve significant fees for such a conversion.
The draft amendments are scheduled to be submitted to the Joint Government and Local Government Commission in April, but they haven't been made public yet. As soon as they're published, we'll certainly present the assumptions in more detail in a separate article.
In just a week, we will send you an article on another issue related to construction contracts, namely indexation clauses.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of April 14, 2022.
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