The end of cheap buyouts? These apartments are disappearing from the market

Sales of municipal apartments in Poland still exceed their construction. Experts warn that municipal resources are systematically shrinking.

The demand for municipal apartments does not weaken. The discussion about the future of discounts for the purchase of municipal apartments continues with no end in sight, and in the meantime, municipalities are not suspending the sale of apartments.

In 2025 – according to experts’ estimates from the RynekPierwotny.pl website – local governments sold about 10,000 municipal apartments. Although the stock of public housing is systematically shrinking, and the purchase conditions have long ceased to resemble those of years ago, there is no shortage of people willing to buy “municipal” housing.

“Where did the million public housing units go?” – this was the title of the analysis of the RynekPierwotny.pl portal from ten years ago, the authors of which already drew attention to the very fast pace of sales of municipal premises.

– Since the publication of the above-mentioned analysis, communes have sold over 150,000 apartments – often with discounts of over 90%. There has been a discussion about abolishing discounts for some time. There is even an appropriate draft bill. However, parliamentary work is dragging on, notes Andrzej Prajsnar, an expert at the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

Municipal balance: the resource has been shrinking for years

Data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS) show that the scale of the phenomenon is long-term, although the full picture becomes visible only after some time – statistics are published with a delay.

– The Central Statistical Office publishes relevant information in a two-year cycle, based on the M-01 statistical reports sent by communes. For now, the latest available and accurate data on the number of municipal premises sold refer to the years 2023–2024. During this period, communes sold another 23,726 apartments. This is a lower result than in the years 2021–2022 (32,619), but still relatively high – especially since the municipal resources are shrinking quickly – explains Andrzej Prajsnar.

In the long term, the balance is clearly negative. From 2002 to 2024:

646,986 municipal apartments were sold,
only 51,338 new premises were put into use.

In total, this gives a result of approximately minus 595,648 apartments. Even earlier, in the 1990s, the stock decreased from approximately 1.7 million to 1.3 million units, and at the end of 2024 it amounted to approximately 756,000.

Sales remain high and construction is light

In 2025, the trend has not changed. The communes sold approximately 10,000 “M” units and at the same time completed only 1,644 new premises. Experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl website emphasize that we are still dealing with a negative balance of municipal resources.

However, sales data are preliminary – they are based, among others, on: on the number of notarial deeds, so the full picture of the situation may become more precise. However, the direction of changes remains unchanged: more apartments disappear from the stock than are added to it.

Deadlock in the Sejm

As experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl website note, although there is a debate in the background about the future of discounts, which have fueled the purchase of municipal apartments for years, there is still a long way to put the market in order. The draft amendments to the Real Estate Management Act were submitted to the Sejm in May 2025, but work on it has stalled.

– However, there is a high probability that the initially planned ban on granting discounts will be “softened”. Let us remind you: the original proposal assumed an unconditional ban on the purchase of a municipal flat with a discount from January 1, 2027. This is now a less likely scenario than a few months earlier. Therefore, the risk that soon, during the transitional period, communes will be heavily inundated with applications for the purchase of apartments (according to the current regulations) is decreasing – says Andrzej Pajsar.

Capital “municipal” for PLN 30,000. PLN is already history

RynekPierwotny.pl analysts point out that in response to the proposal to completely abolish discounts on the purchase of apartments, municipalities refer to various local conditions and the required independence in managing the housing stock.

– A brief review of the situation in large cities confirms the diversity of policies of local authorities. The best example is Warsaw. Data from the Central Statistical Office indicate that in the years 2002–2013 the capital sold 26,305 municipal premises. The analogous result for the years 2016–2024 is only 640 apartments sold in Warsaw. Such a large change was the result of adopting the sale of premises at the market price (without discounts) as a general rule. Previously, you could buy a flat in the capital for 10-20%. values – explains Pajsar.

RynekPierwotny.pl experts calculated that in the years 2005–2013 the average price of a premises sold in Warsaw was approximately PLN 30,000 (data source: Multiannual Housing Resources Management Program of the Capital City of Warsaw for 2021–2025).