Can a Foreigner Buy Property in Poland?

Purchasing real estate is becoming an increasingly popular investment solution. Investing in real estate in Poland is relatively safe, ensuring stable value growth, and helping to safeguard capital against inflation. We also see a growing interest in the Polish real estate market among foreign investors. Can foreigners buy property in Poland, and what further investment opportunities do they have? We’ve analyzed this issue very thoroughly.

Who is a foreigner under Polish law?

Polish law defines a foreigner as:

• an individual who doesn’t have Polish citizenship,
• a legal person with headquarters abroad,
• an unincorporated entity with certain rights, and with headquarters abroad,
• a commercial company with headquarters in Poland, but over 50% of its shares are controlled by foreigners.

Property purchase and ministerial consent

Property purchases by foreigners require obtaining ministerial consent, but this consent doesn’t apply to every foreigner and isn’t required for every property purchase. Wellcome Home focuses on the investment rental market, so in this article we mainly address residential properties, specifically individual apartments or entire buildings.

Special permission is only sometimes necessary, as the Polish law regarding property purchase by foreigners says. If you are a citizen of the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you can buy property without obtaining special consent. Of course, there are some exceptions, such as if you want to buy agricultural land, but let’s focus on residential properties.

Does the property’s designation affect obtaining consent?

Another important exception is that purchasing a residential apartment by a foreigner, regardless of their country of origin, doesn’t require ministerial consent. In this situation, the apartment needs to be a separate object of ownership. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule as well.

Consent is required for an apartment purchase if:

• it is located in a border zone, meaning, in simple terms, purchasing an apartment in a municipality located near the Polish border will require ministerial consent,
• when buying an apartment, you must also acquire the right to use the adjacent property, e.g. buy the right to use an adjacent plot because it is a driveway to the building where your apartment is located.

A required parking space can complicate matters

When purchasing an apartment in a new building, paying attention to how the parking space in the garage is sold is important. It often happens that developers selling apartments in new buildings also require the purchase of a parking space.

A parking space in the garage can have different forms of ownership, and this form determines whether a foreigner can make a purchase with or without ministerial consent. For example: if you want to buy an apartment for yourself to live in, and the parking space is sold as a separate non-residential property, you will not need ministerial consent. If you want to buy an apartment for investment purposes to rent, then purchasing a parking space, which is a separate non-residential property, will require ministerial consent.

Several investors cooperating with us have decided to purchase an apartment in a new building located in the center of Katowice. The apartments in this building are sold with parking spaces, which are not separate properties, but a common area intended for the use of each owner of that specific apartment. Therefore, there was no need to apply for ministerial consent to purchase a parking space. It is advisable to check this before making a purchase.

In summary

The real estate market in Poland is open and accessible to foreign investors, not only from the European Economic Area, but beyond. The Polish real estate market offers investment opportunities in great locations in the largest Polish cities, and foreign investors appreciate the safety, stable value growth over time, capital protection against inflation, and risk diversification. 

However, doubts may arise during the entire investment process, not only regarding the investment itself, but also regarding formal requirements, so it is worth seeking advice from an experienced partner. If you are considering purchasing real estate in Poland, but don’t know where to start, let us know! We’ll gladly answer all your questions.