Poland approves draft law to resolve housing cooperative land issues

The Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers of Poland has approved a draft law regulating land ownership issues affecting housing cooperatives.

The proposed legislation grants housing cooperatives permanent rights to land and unlocks the possibility of establishing land and mortgage registers and creating separate ownership of residential units, CE Report informs via the Ministry of Economic Development and Tecnology of the Republic of Poland's official website.

The draft law on regulating rights to land developed by housing cooperatives addresses a long-standing issue dating back to Poland's political and economic transition. It concerns cases where cooperatives built residential buildings on land for which they never obtained formal legal title. According to estimates, the new regulations will apply to around 120 housing cooperatives and approximately 100,000 holders of cooperative housing rights.

"The draft ends years of legal uncertainty for thousands of families living in cooperative housing. We are enabling cooperatives to obtain permanent rights to the land, while residents will be able to fully exercise their property rights, including establishing land and mortgage registers and financing home purchases with mortgage loans," said Deputy Minister of Development and Technology Tomasz Lewandowski.

Key benefits for residents and housing cooperatives

Members of housing cooperatives will be able to freely manage their rights to residential units and establish separate ownership. The ability to create land and mortgage registers will also make it easier to obtain mortgage financing. The new regulations are expected to support social housing development, as undeveloped land owned by cooperatives that becomes legally regulated can be used for socially oriented investment projects.

Main provisions of the draft law

• Granting housing cooperatives the right to obtain perpetual usufruct for land where they have not yet secured legal title.
• Allowing cooperatives without land rights to choose an administrative procedure for pursuing their claims.
• Introducing safeguards against administrative inaction and excessive delays in proceedings.
• Exempting cooperatives from charges for unauthorized use of land while legal proceedings are ongoing.
• Establishing additional mechanisms to improve the efficient management of cooperative-owned real estate.

Following interministerial consultations and public consultations, the draft law will be submitted to the Council of Ministers and subsequently to the Sejm for consideration.

Photo Ministry of Economic Development and Tecnology of the Republic of Poland