It’s time for Polish, modest “old money”. “Mr. Stefan has always lived in a block of flats in Warsaw’s Gocław”
Mr. Stefan has always lived in a block of flats in Warsaw’s Gocław district. His parents were allocated a cooperative housing unit there. These were the times of the gloomy Polish People’s Republic. He played in the sandbox in the yard, and years later he drank beer at the beater. The parents passed away a long time ago, the wife too, but to a friend’s, the son emigrated to Sweden, but the grandson wants to live in the capital. And so it will happen. A little patience.
Mr. Stefan is surprised by reports that there is a shortage of apartments in Poland and describes the movement in the business. First, a car from the funeral home shows up, then a few months of peace and the renovation begins. Mr. Stefan is hard of hearing, but he is also bothered by the noise. They are tearing up everything, total destruction, dust in the elevator and on the staircases, the corridor is blocked.
Finally, the noise subsides and a young couple moves into the renovated apartment. And again, noise, because they party all weekend long with loud music.
And this is how it has been going on for years. The first tenants die out, their grandchildren take their place.
Mr. Stefan’s observations are confirmed by NBP analysts. The annual housing report is optimistic. The housing gap in Poland is narrowing. We are building massively, and demography is also favorable to us. In 2010, there were 350 apartments per thousand inhabitants, now there are 420 apartments. The EU average is 514 apartments. With the current dynamics, we will achieve it in 15 years, which is a quite good forecast.
More vodka, less square meters
Someone will say: what does it matter if the number of apartments is increasing, if they are now horrendously expensive and therefore unavailable. This is not entirely true.
