Renting apartments in a new way? Large cities are in favour, but there are considerable doubts
Cities are no longer willing to sell municipal apartments. After the new regulations come into force, they will have to check tenants’ income more often, which may, for example, involve the employment of additional officials.
The Sejm is working on a parliamentary project, supported by the Ministry of Development and Technology, which is intended to put an end to the sale of municipal apartments by cities to tenants, often with high discounts – reported “Gazeta Prawna”. However, cities have already significantly reduced the sales of this type of premises. Tenants’ income will also be checked every three years. Annual earnings are to be taken into account.
Currently, they can be verified no more often than every 2.5 years in the case of contracts concluded after April 21, 2019. After the changes, everyone will be checked, except for, among others: households consisting only of people receiving a disability pension or people of retirement age. The additional verification is also intended to bypass people who are already checked in connection with applying for housing benefits.
New obligations for local governments. Will it be necessary to employ additional officials?
Hanna Milewska-Wilk, an expert at the Institute for the Development of Cities and Regions, noted that “it will not be as big an administrative burden for municipalities as they thought,” but city representatives have a different opinion on this issue. Local governments are afraid that the new duties may involve the employment of additional officials. The government’s goal is also for municipalities not to shorten the queues for apartments by setting very low income thresholds that are difficult to meet.
– We want municipal resources to be offered to a wider group of recipients. Not only those earning the least money, explained the Deputy Minister of Development and Technology. Tomasz Lewandowski noticed that low income criteria are met by people operating in the gray zone. At the same time, people with full-time jobs are excluded. Some cities believe that rigid thresholds, which can only be increased, will cause difficulties for people with lower incomes, which will result in queues.
