Investment paralysis. The lack of a general plan stops the construction of apartments
If the city and commune do not make it until June 2026 with the adoption of general plans, there will be no building of new houses and apartments. And some already know that they will not make it.
A spectacular flap in housing is being prepared. Individual investors as well as developers will have trouble.
To obtain permission to build so far, it was enough to meet a few simple conditions: access to a public road, plot armament and good neighborhood. After changing the law, if a municipality does not make it until mid -2026 with the development of a general plan, it will not be able to issue a decision on building conditions at all – explains Gazeta Wyborcza Andrzej Orłowski, an architect from Zakopane.
The amendment to the law on spatial planning introduced a general plan as a new act of local law, which will replace the study of conditions and directions of spatial development throughout the commune.
Panic in local governments. Unreal dates for adopting a general plan
Although there are still eight months until the zero hour, some municipalities and cities already know that they will not be able to adopt a general plan in time, which is to determine the division of municipalities and cities into zones, planning profile, catalog of permissible functions, as well as optional urban standards. In this situation, he is buried.
The mayor of the city Łukasz Filipowicz said directly: “There will be investment paralysis in the Zakopianka plan and Kościeliska plan.” – If nothing changes, residents will not be able to apply for building conditions, and the city will not be able to spend them, because the study will expire. This means that no one will build anything: is it an investor who is trying to a developer for 150 apartments, or the proverbial Kowalski, who wants to build a 120-meter house for himself-explained Łukasz Filipowicz in an interview with Wyborcza.pl.
Not enough time to develop a strategy for the development of cities and municipalities
On the obligation to specify the conditions for developing a strategy for the development of municipalities and issuing decisions on building conditions (popular WZKYKI) in rural communes, the Union of Rural Municipalities of the Republic of Poland also commented.
According to the Union, local governments are forced to carry out tasks that destabilize spatial planning and investment processes in municipalities, generate administrative chaos and are the reason for the lack of stability and sense of the planning system. And above all – they exceed the possibilities of local governments for personnel and budget reasons.
Effect? The waiting time for the decision on building conditions is even a year. Officials explain that they have no tools to effectively counteract the negative effects of the amendment. And for exceeding the 90 days for issuing a decision, there is, of course, a penalty – PLN 500 for each day of delay.
