Fight against the so-called path developer. Appeal to postpone the changes

The European Commission has notified an amendment to the regulation on the technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location. The Ministry of Development and Technology changed the regulation to combat the so-called path developer. The head of the Ministry of Energy and Technology, Waldemar Buda, announced last week that he would sign the new regulation any day now, which should enter into force on January 1, 2024.

Regulation on the fight against pathological development. Appeal to the minister

– We have the green light from the European Commission regarding a regulation that is intended to eliminate the so-called path developer; I will sign it in a few days – announced the head of the Ministry of Development and Technology.

The draft regulation assumes, among others: increasing the distance of a multi-family residential building over four storeys high from the plot boundary to five meters. Until now, this distance was a minimum of three meters in the case of walls without windows or doors, and in the case of walls with windows or doors – four meters.

Meanwhile, the Polish Association of Developer Companies appeals to the Minister of Development and Technology to extend the vacatio legis period of the draft regulation by three months. The deputy head of the organization, Konrad Płochocki, points out that the need to fill the housing gap requires integrated, multi-directional actions, which should be based on stable, predictable law.

– Regulations on the housing construction market are necessary to provide Poles with the housing they need and ensure comfort, but changes should be introduced so as not to destabilize the market, which, despite high sales levels, is still very cautious about starting new investments – emphasizes the vice-president of the Polish Association of Developer Companies.

According to Płochocki, we are in a period of significant imbalance between supply and demand. There is a shortage of new apartments.

– In such an environment, any solution that disrupts the functioning of the real estate market will lead to an increase in the already high housing prices. Meanwhile, everyone should care about launching as many new investments as possible to weaken the pressure on these increases – emphasizes Płochocki.

The organization points out that technical conditions are one of the most important regulations governing the principles of constructing buildings in the country.

– Therefore, the industry emphasizes that their changes – in order to guarantee investment certainty on the Polish real estate market – should be implemented based on the realities related to the investment preparation period, which currently extends from the purchase of land to the actual construction of approximately 5 years. However, the amended regulations do not even take into account the stage preceding the development of the architectural and construction concept, which often takes from 6 to even 9 months – emphasizes the Polish Association of Developer Companies.

– And it is for investments still at the design stage that the new law poses the greatest threat. An insufficient deadline has been set for compliance, which may result in a number of investments not being implemented as originally planned. Meanwhile, it is obvious that each plot is purchased with the intention of building a specific project in a specific shape, taken into account at the time of purchase – added.

Negative financial consequences

According to the organization, the amendment may in this respect violate the principle of protection of acquired rights and may lead to huge negative financial consequences. – In the worst-case scenario, it may turn out that some of the land will no longer meet the conditions for using it for residential development. Therefore, it is necessary to give a chance to develop these areas and change the date of entry into force of the regulation – says Przemysław Dziąg, head of the legal department of the Polish Association of Developer Companies.

According to the organization, the amendment to the technical conditions should enter into force on April 1, 2024, so that the market has a chance to adapt to the new regulations.