Another month has passed, which means it's time for another roundup of legal changes announced or implemented in October 2024. Legislatively speaking, not much is happening. Looking at the statistics, the Sejm (lower house of parliament) adopted 14 bills in October, of which only five were published in the Journal of Laws. None of these bills directly impacts the real estate market, aside from amendments to the Act on Facilitations for Flood-Affected Areas. However, there are announcements of changes that we would like to highlight.
Facilities for flood-affected areas
On October 4, 2024, the Act of October 1, 2024, amending the Act on special solutions related to the removal of the effects of floods and certain other acts, was published.
This Act introduced, among other things, the possibility of support for victims who are borrowers within the meaning of the Act of 9 October 2015 on support for borrowers who have taken out a housing loan and are in a difficult financial situation, and whose single-family house or apartment to which the housing loan related (within the meaning of the Act on Support for Borrowers) was damaged or destroyed as a result of a flood, and who lost, even temporarily, the ability to use that house or part of it or that apartment, or who completely lost their source of income as a result of a flood, and who were employed or ran a business in the area of a commune or locality indicated in the regulations issued under Article 1, Section 2 of the Special Flood Act.
Pursuant to the introduced Article 27a, municipalities identified as affected by flooding and for the period specified in these provisions have the right of pre-emption for residential premises or single-family residential buildings located within the municipality. Residential premises and single-family residential buildings acquired by the municipality will become part of the municipality's housing stock.
Amendments were also made to the Act of August 11, 2001, on specific rules for the reconstruction, renovation, and demolition of buildings destroyed or damaged by natural disasters. Currently, the reconstruction of installations to ensure the continuity and quality of services provided does not require notification to the relevant architectural and construction authority. The notification to the relevant architectural and construction authority does not apply to linear structures, except railway lines of national importance, as defined under the Rail Transport Act, or structures with a cubic capacity of less than 1,000 m3 and no higher than 12 m above ground level, except for utility and storage facilities located on residential plots. These changes also apply to the reconstruction of installations.
The government is working on further changes in the reconstruction of facilities that suffered from flooding, in particular with regard to simplifying construction procedures for buildings up to 2,000 m3 in area, and the draft changes are at the stage of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers.
Proposed changes to appeals against building permit decisions
The Ministry of Development and Technology has once again announced changes to the Construction Law aimed at reducing unfounded appeals against building permits. Currently, to successfully appeal a building permit, it is sufficient for the appellant to indicate their disagreement with the decision (even without providing a justification), and such an appeal is subject to review by a second-instance body (usually the voivode).
This time, the amendment to the regulations would require a party dissatisfied with the decision to indicate in its appeal the scope of the request and the evidence supporting it. It should be noted that the proposed changes should positively impact the speed of the investment process; however, we are awaiting their actual implementation.
Withdrawal of changes in determining the minimum number of parking spaces for investments implemented under the special housing act
The next draft bill amending the act on special solutions related to flood damage control and certain other acts, dated October 11, 2024, includes a proposal to amend the provisions of the special housing act (the so-called developer lex) related to the number of parking spaces. The bill originally proposed eliminating the requirement to specify a minimum number of parking spaces (1.5 spaces) for residential developments. Unfortunately, the amendment to the provision in the special housing act was deleted in the version of the bill dated October 27, 2024, so it is unclear whether, and if so, when, it will be implemented.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of October 31, 2024
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