Andronicus
18 Apr 2021
Real Estate / Purchasing apartment in the Polish border region as a foreigner [10]
Hello,
First time posting here, we are trying to buy an apartment in Szczecin, and as a UK citizen since Brexit we are being told that we require a permit for the acquisition of real-estate.
My understanding was that this only applied to land/houses. Google search turns up multiple articles stating that a foreigner can by apartments without permits.
Since the apartment in question is a small 2 room in a typical tenement block, I didn't think this was an issue. When we spoke with the estate agent however they say that to purchase an apartment with "Pelna Wlasnosc" we will require a permit. However if the apartment is "Spółdzielcze" then we don't require one.
Is this correct information? The law itself is a bit ambiguous in it's description of real-estate and permanent usufruct, followed by a list of exceptions, then a statement about these exceptions not applying to the border regions.
Since Szczecin is close to the German border, it is certainly classed as a border region.
If a permit is required, I don't have a problem with that, however the estate agents tell us that no seller is prepared to wait for this as it could take months. Added to this is that most estate agents expect a 5000 PLN "reservation fee" to be paid upfront, it makes us a little nervous.
Some advice would be appreciated!
Hello,
First time posting here, we are trying to buy an apartment in Szczecin, and as a UK citizen since Brexit we are being told that we require a permit for the acquisition of real-estate.
My understanding was that this only applied to land/houses. Google search turns up multiple articles stating that a foreigner can by apartments without permits.
Since the apartment in question is a small 2 room in a typical tenement block, I didn't think this was an issue. When we spoke with the estate agent however they say that to purchase an apartment with "Pelna Wlasnosc" we will require a permit. However if the apartment is "Spółdzielcze" then we don't require one.
Is this correct information? The law itself is a bit ambiguous in it's description of real-estate and permanent usufruct, followed by a list of exceptions, then a statement about these exceptions not applying to the border regions.
Since Szczecin is close to the German border, it is certainly classed as a border region.
If a permit is required, I don't have a problem with that, however the estate agents tell us that no seller is prepared to wait for this as it could take months. Added to this is that most estate agents expect a 5000 PLN "reservation fee" to be paid upfront, it makes us a little nervous.
Some advice would be appreciated!