Poland: Guide to Buying Costs and Procedures

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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2007

Buying costs are low in Poland

How high are realtors’ and lawyers’ fees in Poland? What about other property purchase costs?

Transaction Costs
		Who Pays?
Agent commission	3%	buyer
Civil transaction tax	2%	buyer
Registration fee	0.3% - 1.6%	buyer
Notarial fees	0.25% - 3.3%	buyer
Costs paid by buyer	5.55% - 9.93%
Costs paid by seller	nil
ROUNDTRIP TRANSACTION COSTS	5.55% -9.93%
See Footnotes Source: Global Property Guide

How difficult is the property purchase process in Poland?

Foreigners can freely buy condominium units in Poland. Land for commercial purposes can be freely bought by citizens of the European Economic Area (EU + Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway).

EEA citizens, however, require a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration (MIA) permit to buy land for housing and recreation, which is not intended to be the foreigner’s place of permanent residence (this requirement should be lifted in 2009), and the land bought for permanent residence may not exceed 0.50 hectares .

Non-EEA citizens need MIA permits to buy any kind of land, residential or commercial. The MIA permit will only be issued if the foreigner can prove that he has links with Poland – temporary or permanent residence in Poland, among other things.

Foreigners, both legal entities and individuals, can freely lease land or real estate, without restrictions. Any lease for a period of more than a year should be executed in writing .

Property negotiation is done openly in Poland. The price can be negotiated directly with the owners (a common practice) or through the estate agent. Once the parties have reached an agreement, the contract for the purchase of real estate must be made in the form of a notarial deed executed by a Polish notary. A contract in any other form is null and void. It is advisable to appoint an English-speaking notary, or at the very least to engage the services of a translator since all sales documents will be written in Polish.

The notary will draw up an ‘initial contract’, which outlines the details and any conditions that must be satisfied before the sale completes. At this time, a completion date is set and a 20% deposit is paid by the buyer. The notary then carries out the necessary checks or searches. When all is in order, the balance of the purchase price must be paid and the vendor must present a document stating that there are no loans secured on the house at the final contract meeting.

Registration of real estate purchase usually takes up to 200 days.

Footnotes to Transaction Costs Table

The round trip transaction costs include all costs of buying and then re-selling a property – lawyers’ fees, notaries’ fees, registration fees, taxes, agents’ fees, etc.

Currency:
Poland uses Zlotny. Exchange rate is at 1 Euro = 3.86795 PLN as of 7th February 2007.

Real Estate Commission:
For the puchase of a residential apartment, most agents will apply 3% commission. However, agent fees are negotiable for larger purchases (such as a building).

Civil Transaction Tax:
Civil transaction tax (CTT) of 2% is paid on transfer of second-hand buildings and land. Properties under CTT are VAT-exempt.

Value-added Tax
Reduced VAT of 7% is levied on new-build property (residential houses and apartments) until 31 December 2007. The standard VAT rate is 22% in Poland.

Registration fee
Registration fee for Land registry or register court is calculated as 20% of the amount the results from the following schedule:

REGISTRATION FEES
PURCHASE PRICE (PLN)	FEES
Below 10,000	8%, but no less than PLN30
10,000 to 50,000	PLN 800 + 7% in excess of 10,000
50,000 to 100,000	PLN 3,600 + 6% in excess of 50,000
Above 100,000	PLN 6,600 + 5% in excess of 100,000

Notarial fees
Notarial fees are calculated on the value of the transaction based on the following schedule:

NOTARY FEES
PURCHASE PRICE (PLN)	FEES
Up to PLN 3,000	PLN 100
From 3,000 to 10,000	PLN 100 + 3% of excess over 3,000
From 10,000 to 30,000	PLN 310 + 2% of excess over 10,000
From 30,000 to 60,000	PLN 710 + 1% of excess over 30,000
From 60,000 to 1,000,000	PLN 1,010 + 0.5% of excess over 60,000
Above 1,000,000	PLN 5,710 + 0.25% of excess over 1,000,000

Poland - more data and information

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