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Posts by Braveheart16  

Joined: 8 Aug 2015 / Male ♂
Last Post: 25 Feb 2024
Threads: 19
Posts: 142
From: Poland
Speaks Polish?: no
Interests: Walking, skiing

Displayed posts: 161 / page 1 of 6
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Braveheart16   
8 Aug 2015
Life / Best area to live in Lower Silesia, Poland? Property in a countryside. [33]

I am planning to buy a house in the Lower Selisia region in the near future and would welcome comments on some of the better areas to live (in terms of lifestyle, facilities, forests, communities, etc), for example in the area of, Lwowek Slaski, Wlen, Boleslawiec, Gryfow Slaski, Jelenia Gora etc. I am looking to relocate to a property outside towns in the countryside but not far from smaller villages/towns. Thanks for any help on this.....I just want to make sure I buy in the right place.
Braveheart16   
8 Aug 2015
Life / Best area to live in Lower Silesia, Poland? Property in a countryside. [33]

Webkot

Thank you very much for the detailed information you have posted it is much appreciated. Lwówek Sląski is a town we are considering and glad it has plenty of facilities including vets as we have a dog and cat. Because of our love for the countryside we are attracted to this area because of the mountains, forests, rivers lakes etc and of course proximity to the German and Czech borders. Thanks for your offer of an estate agent it would be very helpful. We have looked at quite a few estate agent sites so far and another will help. My wife is Polish so this will of course be a great help when settling in but of course I need to really improve on my Polish. Neither of us are familiar with this region and it can be difficult to find the sort of information you have kindly provided, so thank you for this.

Karpaczboy

Thank you very much for your insight on life in your area and how things are changing in Jelenia Gora. It is also good to know that you have found people friendly and generous. It can be difficult to get this sort of information on an area so it is much appreciated. It provides my wife and I with a better understanding of the region. I am sure I will be posting more questions again.
Braveheart16   
9 Aug 2015
Life / Best area to live in Lower Silesia, Poland? Property in a countryside. [33]

Webkot

Thank you again for your helpful information and estate agent details. The area, facilities and house opportunities all sound good. One of our major worries for this area is flooding. I have looked at past floods in Lower Silesia and elsewhere and there have been some quite destructive floods. I do of course wish to find a house in an area that is flood free. Would you know from your experience if there are flooding problems in this area around Lwowek Slaski and nearby and the risk of floods. As far as I can make out South of Jelenia Gora, Wroclaw seems to be prone to flooding and there has also been flooding problems in Gryfor Slaski so we are concerned. Any advice would be most welcome.

Tadoz

Thank you for your response and like other reponses it is much appreciated and valued. We will need to rent a house when we arrive and use that as a base to view potential houses. As mentioned in my last posting we are concerned with flooding problems in this area and will feel more reassured knowing the 'safe' areas to live. It is difficult to be absolutely sure of flood free areas but would appreciate any advice.
Braveheart16   
9 Aug 2015
Life / Best area to live in Lower Silesia, Poland? Property in a countryside. [33]

Webkot

Thank you again for your detailed information it really has helped to understand what the situation is like 'on the ground'. Before I forget my wife and myself have had experience of driving in Poland and yes I can say it was memorable. (no need to apologise) We will tread carefully with our selection of houses against possible flooding and your information has been really helpful. Thanks for the website link, we will see what we can find. Good to know that Boleslawiec has a Carrefour and Tesco in addition to a pottery centre. Thanks again for the information and hope to keep in touch.

Tadoz

Thanks for your information which again has been very helpful and we appreciate the estate agents link. We have also carefully noted your comments on flooding and will tread carefully. We also now appreciate not to disregard areas which have a stream/river which do not pose a threat and will ask lots of questions and research as much as possible. It is tricky and it helps to have the opinions of other people such as yourself.
Braveheart16   
11 Nov 2015
Travel / Zielona Gora - What's there? [19]

Merged: Recommendations for bars/pubs and restaurants in Zielona Gora

I am looking for recommendations for restaurants and bars/pubs in Zielona Góra I will be living hear for a few months and it would really be helpful to know of one or two good places to visit socially. I believe there is a good Chinese restaurant which is worth a visit, so any feedback would be useful.

Thanks for any responses it is much appreciated.
Braveheart16   
11 Nov 2015
Real Estate / Chlebice village, near Zary, Poland [3]

I would be grateful to know if anyone has knowledge of Chlebice village which is located about 30 minutes from Zary and is close to the German border. It would be really helpful to know a little more about this small village and the general area.

Thank you for any feedback on this.
Braveheart16   
11 Nov 2015
Real Estate / Chlebice village, near Zary, Poland [3]

Thank you for the information. Would you have any up to date information on this village which you could provide. Thank you again for your help.
Braveheart16   
12 Nov 2015
Travel / Zielona Gora - What's there? [19]

Thank you very much for your feedback and suggestions on restaurants/bars in Zielona Góra, they are much appreciated.
Braveheart16   
6 Dec 2015
Life / Alternative for Medicover (private healthcare insurance in Poland)? [5]

Merged: Private Medical Insurance in Poland

I want to set up private medical for my wife and myself with a company but not sure of who to select. I have looked at one or two including Medicare, Lux Med and Signal Iduna. In particular I would be grateful if anyone could provide any feedback on Signal Iduna and whether this company are worth considering.

Thank you for any feedback on this.
Braveheart16   
9 Dec 2015
Law / British living in Poland - tax treaty with the UK? [30]

As far as government pensions are concerned for example for ex civil servants there is a double taxation agreement between the UK and Poland and most other European countries. (Article 18 applies) Therefore you would only pay tax once in the UK and you should not be taxed again in Poland.
Braveheart16   
17 Dec 2015
Life / Comparing Poland and Romania [108]

Are you wanting more information on Romania to help you decide on whether to undertake your business opportunity? Not sure why it is necessary to know the difference between Poland and Romania? It may be worth speaking with people already in business in Romania in order to get a perspective on whether you feel that Romania is the right place for you to do business. Perhaps try speaking to a business action group or consult with ex pats already in business there. Have you tried speaking with a Romanian forum web site for help. Hope this helps.
Braveheart16   
19 Dec 2015
Law / British living in Poland - tax treaty with the UK? [30]

@_antoni

Further to my post, Article 18 of the Double Taxation Convention states that:

(2) (a) Any pension paid by, or out of funds created by, a Contracting State (for example a government pension paid by the UK) or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority shall be taxable only in that State. (ie. tax on this pension must be paid in the UK)

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, such pension shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State (for example Poland) if the individual is a resident of, and a national of, that State.

I think the key words here are 'resident' and 'national'. Hence it would appear that if you are both a 'resident' and a 'national' of Poland then tax on your UK government pension should be paid in Poland.

Hope this is of help.
Braveheart16   
20 Dec 2015
Law / British living in Poland - tax treaty with the UK? [30]

I think it is worth clarifying the pension situation with @_antoni.....when you say you are in receipt of a UK government pension I am assuming you were previously working for the UK government as a civil servant or in some other government position in which case in normal circumstances tax will be paid in the UK (a government pension is different from other pensions such as 'state pensions' etc) If you are now resident and also a Polish national then it would seem that your tax should be paid in Poland. There is a HMRC form which you can complete and this will enable you to pay tax in Poland. As previously mentioned it would be beneficial to seek guidance and advice from HMRC.
Braveheart16   
23 Dec 2015
Law / British living in Poland - tax treaty with the UK? [30]

dolnoslask.... If, true hundreds of thousands of poles (If not a Million) currently working in the UK would be penalized with a further tax burden if they chose retire back in Poland and would probably never return.

Not sure what you mean here, if any Polish worker from the UK chose to retire in Poland they can do so and would likely have to pay tax on their pension in Poland. (not sure whether you are suggesting that the 'hundreds of thousands of Poles' are working as civil servants but I would think that is unlikely. Therefore any pension payable would not be a government pension but some other pension ) The original post seems to be raising a point on whether his 'government pension' would be taxed in Poland now that he has been told he is a 'national' of Poland. The law on this point seems to suggest that you would need to be resident and a national before you would be required to pay tax in Poland, otherwise if you are a national of the UK and resident in Poland your tax on your 'government pension' will continue to be paid in the UK. (government pensions normally refer to ex civil servants or people who have worked for the government in some capacity. I hope this helps to clarify the situation a little more but yes this is a complex area.
Braveheart16   
29 Dec 2015
Real Estate / Refusal for a mortgage in Poland [18]

I know that a lot has been written about mortgages in Poland but wanted to share my recent experience. I asked my bank PKO for information on obtaining a mortgage with them. My wife is Polish and I am British. Although the staff were very helpful and tried their best, they said that because I was not earning an income in Poland it was not possible to get a mortgage with them. I receive a monthly pension of 6,000 zlotys but can work if necessary. I intend to buy a property and will put down about 200,000 zl towards a house purchase and plan to make up any difference, say about 100,000 to 150,000 zl with a mortgage. We were told that I or my wife must have a job and be earning in Poland in order to get a mortgage. (neither of us have a job in Poland but we could if necessary)

The bank clerk said that normally we would have to be working in Poland for about 3 months to get a mortgage or even better a year. They did however say it was possible to get a loan for 100,000-200,000zl but this would have to be paid back over an 8 year period, which would make monthly payments too expensive. They were unable to offer a loan over a longer period. I find this all very odd and I would have expected mortgages to be based on fixed income rather than the mere fact of having a job. I did ask that if I did have a job how much I would have to earn before I could get a 150,000zl mortgage and the clerk wasn't able to answer. The clerk did however suggest that although she would like to help all this was to prevent foreign buyers from buying property in Poland. I thought that as we are in the EU that the purchase of property would in general be something banks would be knowledgeable on and would embrace.

Would anyone be able to share their experience or could anyone advise on how we can move on and get a mortgage. Thank you.
Braveheart16   
30 Dec 2015
Real Estate / Refusal for a mortgage in Poland [18]

Thank you Dolnoslask and Delphiandomine.....your comments are really helpful and much appreciated. It has been a bit demoralising to be told it is not possible to obtain a mortgage and your responses have been a great morale booster. Yes Dolnoslask I may well take you up on your kind offer to meet up so I will keep in touch. We are looking in the lower Silesia area for a property as well as other areas. We are realistic and hope to find a suitable property soon.

Thank you both again.

Thank you Buggsy for your reassuring words they are also much appreciated and helpful. Yes, I will take your advice and shop around.
Braveheart16   
1 Jan 2016
Real Estate / Refusal for a mortgage in Poland [18]

kmoursy

Thank you for sharing your experience on obtaining a mortgage. Your advice is very helpful and I appreciate your feedback.
Braveheart16   
30 Jan 2016
News / Attack on Poland's judicial independence [50]

I have followed this discussion carefully and would suggest that it is often beneficial to look at how other countries prosecution departments operate. The Crown Prosecution Service in the UK is independent from politicians but are responsible to the Attorney General who oversees the CPS and has a healthy relationship with the Director of Public Prosecutions. (the DPP is a qualified senior lawyer who is appointed to his/her position) Importantly there are many codes (articles if you wish) which explain how prosecutions are commenced and conducted. The Director of Public Prosecutions is impartial and is accountable to the Attorney General. Basically politicians in the UK do not have any influence over who is prosecuted and the important point to make is that prosecutors are required to comply with the code for crown prosecutors which sets out standards on whether there is sufficient evidence to charge someone with an offence. I have attached a link for more information. It seems strange that a politician would have sufficient qualifications to undertake legal decisions on whether someone is arrested and charged with an offence. It would seem more appropriate for a qualified lawyer to take this sort of decision. In the UK the Crown Prosecution Service works closely with the police and this enables a more balanced approach to prosecutions and in the end a more fairer outcome as the CPS will ultimately decide on whether a prosecution can proceed on the evidence provided by police.

cps.gov.uk/about/
Braveheart16   
30 Jan 2016
News / Attack on Poland's judicial independence [50]

Gumishu....Poland is not a country like that yet and there has to be some overseeing of the work of prosecutors

This is a fair point and yes a slightly different approach is probably necessary for Poland. I think that one question I would ask is who are the prosecutors accountable to? In the UK there is clear line management which oversees and regulates the work of prosecutors and requires all prosecutors to account for their decisions based on the code for crown prosecutors. In short, prosecutors need to be able to justify their decisions to line management and to be prepared to answer questions. Regular feedback from line managers on prosecutors personal performance also helps to maintain discipline and a balanced approach to legal decisions.
Braveheart16   
3 Feb 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

I am in the process of viewing properties for sale with my wife. I am British and my wife is Polish. We have already seen quite a few houses and have more to see tomorrow. An estate agent who is dealing with us tomorrow mentioned to my wife that we may have problems buying a house because I am British. We already knew about this and issues surrounding the purchase of farmland. Additionally the estate agent stated that whatever money we have to buy a property my wife must prove it belongs to her 100%. Any finance we have are proceeds from the sale of our previous house. We may decide to top this up with a small mortgage. I have no problems with my wife buying the house in her name because I was intending to arrange with the notaire to draw up a legal paragraph so that we each have 50% of any property we purchase. I presume that if my wife were to die before myself then any property we bought in her name would pass to me and vice versa. (we have no children) I am surprised to hear that my wife would have to prove that our joint financial assets do in fact belong to her as we have always shared anything we have earned over the years. This seems very odd to me and really difficult to comply with since everything we have is shared. I don't think that either of us can prove that we own our assets 100%..!! ..they are shared. We will be living off my pension and this will be the only income we have in Poland. We may decide to work but at present do not intend to do so. Can anyone who has also experienced this help provide a solution.
Braveheart16   
6 Feb 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Thank you all for your responses and advice it really is appreciated. We will be raising the issue on buying farmland/building land soon. We have seen one or two houses we like although it may be that a house we have seen is on building land and the rest of the garden/land is possibly farmland. It would seem that the estate agent in question and others state that it is ok for my wife who is Polish to buy a house and farmland but I am only able to buy a house which is declared a house as a building plot. Some of the properties we have seen may have one or two plots separately identified (farm land/building plot). I am happy for my wife to purchase a house and farmland in her name....no problem....but some also say that the money used for this transaction including a small mortgage should be my wife's money. The bank we have approached are fine with granting a mortgage in both our names....not possible for my wife to have a mortgage solely in her name because the monthly income paying this off will come from my pension. We will get to the bottom of this one day.

Thank you all again for your help and experiences they are very helpful.
Braveheart16   
8 Feb 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

WEEG....
Thank you for your information. My wife will be more than happy to purchase the property in her name and we would probably have something legally drawn up to allow me to continue living at the property in the event of her death and vice versa. (we have no children) As far as my wife having to prove that she owns our money and not myself would you be able to provide any suggestions on what evidence we can put forward to support this. (our savings are from the sale of our last house) Traditionally we have always bought our houses with the sale of the previous one.

WEEG...
I forgot to discuss the 2 May 2016 property reforms. Firstly do you know what the name is for the Statute or where I can find out more information on this. I am not sure what you mean when you mention this date....I presume that any Polish national can continue to buy farmland if they choose. Is this piece of legislation directed at European nationals such as myself and what are the proposed changes. I have read the link you provided and I have to confess it seems complicated. Thanks again.
Braveheart16   
12 Feb 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Dolnoslask

We are quite flexible on where we buy. We have just returned from our house viewing trip from the region south of Krakow, Tarnow Rzeszow etc. We saw quite a few properties but nothing we really felt excited about. It is of course a long process so we will continue. We would prefer to be within reasonable travelling distance of the mountains so would equally be happy to live near to Karpacz or surrounding area. (but not sure if this is still possible) We like Krakow as a place to visit and to have easy access to but we will probably have to look further afield. We are now looking at places in the North of Poland near to Koszalin, Szczecinek which gives access to the north of Poznan. We have a budget of about 300k and I think that to overcome any bureaucratic requirements I will obtain permission as an EU national from the relevant authorities to purchase a house with a garden (not farmland) which will circumnavigate my wife having to prove that our savings belong only to her. Permission will also hopefully allow us to supplement our savings with a small mortgage which is in both our names. (My pension will pay for the mortgage) So all in all I feel it would be much easier to obtain permission to buy a house using our savings and incorporating our mortgage.
Braveheart16   
14 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Merged: Procedures when buying property in Poland

I am in the process of buying a house and would be grateful for advice on how things are done. We have already agreed a price with the sellers and I have left a small deposit with the estate agent as requested.

1) When do banks normally formally approve a mortgage? (we have already had initial approval from a bank for a mortgage but we need to return with all the usual documents for formal approval)

2) I have read that the initial deposit (5-10%) is normally made to the seller which sort of worries me as I am used to giving the deposit to a neutral party eg. estate agent/notaire.

3) At what point is the final payment for the house made and who to? (I have also read that banks will not release the money until the final signing of the sale and that this payment is made direct to the seller. This also concerns me because I am not sure how long the seller will have to wait until the payment arrives in his account. In the meantime my wife and I plus dog/cat and a car full of belongings will be waiting to receive the keys to the house)

4) We intend to ask for some conditions to be placed in the first contract eg. subject to mortgage approval and permission from the government to buy the property and maybe subject to searches. (I am a UK citizen currently living permanently in Poland) Is this something that is normally acceptable?

Thank you for any help on this.
Braveheart16   
15 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Polishinvestor - Thank you very much for your detailed response which is of course really helpful and gives me a better idea on what to expect and general procedures.

Buggsey - Thank you again for your support and advice it is much appreciated.

I was just a little concerned that if having handed over the deposit to the seller he decides to pull out and the difficulty I may have in getting my deposit back....the courts are of course an option but this could take a long time to resolve and cost me more money. Perhaps this rarely happens and I am just looking too much into this. The seller seems to be decent enough in any event.

Thanks again.
Braveheart16   
17 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Changes to mortgages for EU citizens in Poland with foreign income. [34]

It would seem that further restrictions imposed by banks will now make it even more difficult for EU citizens to buy a house in Poland using foreign income. Today I returned to the bank who in February informally agreed that I could take out a mortgage given my circumstances.. We went there to discuss further details and to prepare for the purchase of the house we now intend to buy. It came as quite a shock to hear the mortgage advisor apologise and tell us that the rules have now changed concerning mortgages as follows: (I am planning to arrange a small mortgage using my monthly pension which originates from the UK.)

It appears that since the 14 March this bank (and perhaps all other banks) now require me (and I presume other EU citizens in my position) to have a second income originating in Poland which must pay more than the foreign income generated by my monthly pension. So in short I need to have a job or business which pays more than my pension before this bank will consider my request for a mortgage.

Whilst my pension is not that substantial I think it would be really difficult to find a job which will pay me more than my monthly pension. I just find this quite incredible.

Naturally I was quite shocked with this news and asked how long the advisor knew about the changes. He said that he had only heard recently and seemed to suggest that it was other internal banking officials who changed the rules and not the government. He did say that had we provided the usual paperwork in February then we may have been able to obtain a mortgage based on my UK pension. Finally he said that his bank had a lot of other customers in my position (I presume other EU nationals)

My wife and I went to another bank and following checks on income, age etc said that they could give us a mortgage providing we paid for it in UK Sterling....(at the moment I have receive my pension in Zloty's) This would require us to set up a sterling bank account so that the bank would either receive all of my pension in sterling or just the monthly payment for my mortgage) What was interesting was that when we mentioned about the 'new rules' she said that it must be internal bank rules because her bank are fine with giving us a mortgage. However this could all be quite complicated and financially difficult because of the exchange rate etc with my personal bank and transferring the funds to this new bank for our mortgage.

We did however go to my own personal bank (who many months ago confirmed that someone in my position couldn't get a mortgage with them for other reasons) to see if it was possible to open a 'sterling' account (assuming we would move forward with the mortgage at the other bank) Not possible as they only have euro and zloty accounts. However on discussing our recent bad news from the original bank they did confirm that the new rules apply to all banks... The bank was however happy to give us a personal loan which unfortunately was less than we needed but nevertheless would enable me to obtain some finance. She just needed to make sure that I had permanent residency in Poland. My wife explained that we will have permanent residency when we buy our house but that a the moment we have a temporary address. I have already applied for residency and although the letter and card I received does not specifically say that I have permanent residency it does say something about residency so not sure if this will suffice.........

Thought you may like to hear about this new change which at the moment is really making life difficult for us to buy a house which has taken many months to find.

It would be helpful to hear your comments.
Braveheart16   
17 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Changes to mortgages for EU citizens in Poland with foreign income. [34]

Thank you both for your helpful feedback so far on this and yes my pension is subject to the double taxation agreement. The bank eventually understood what a double taxation agreement was and didn't push to have it taxed in Poland. In my case the EU double taxation treaty (signed by Poland) means that although I reside in Poland my pension is taxed in the UK. However I am really more concerned with sorting out my house and mortgage so hopefully something positive will happen soon.
Braveheart16   
18 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Changes to mortgages for EU citizens in Poland with foreign income. [34]

mcm1 - Thanks for your feedback on pensions. It seems from the previous enquiries I made Article 18 of the UK/Poland double taxation convention signed in London on 20 July 2006 became effective in Poland from 1 January 2007. Subsection 2(a) and (b) of this Article deals with the whether a person is taxed in the UK or Poland and in particular '...such pension shall be taxable only in the other contracting State if the individual is a resident of and a national of that State' Although I am a resident in Poland I am not a national and therefore my pension is taxed in the UK. This is how I interpreted this and UK Customs so hope it helps. I suppose it all depends on the personal situation of the individual.

Interesting information on mortgages from others so thank you.
Braveheart16   
18 Mar 2016
Law / Cash loan in Poland without PESEL [49]

Merged: Pesel number required to obtain personal loan for EU citizen

Today I went to my bank and made an enquiry for a personal loan. All relevant documents already translated, my passport, income, residence card etc were supplied and the manager was sure everything was fine. She confirmed the amount of loan which was possible with my income. She was very helpful but when it came to a 'pesel number' I did not have one as I understood some months ago that they have stopped issuing them (or don't issue them) to EU citizens. So I was able to open my bank account with my passport and other supporting documents.

However it came as quite a shock when the bank manager said that although everything else was fine I couldn't have a loan because I didn't have a 'pesel number'. I just found this amazing as my income is paid into my account...deductions made for PZU etc. It may be that this is just an internal bank rule but very strange that lack of a 'pesel number' prevents someone from getting a loan. I did try another bank where my wife has an account but as I would be financing the loan I would need to have had a bank account for 6 months...then the clerk informed me that it would the discretion of the director if I would be allowed a loan without a 'pesel number'......

Just thought I would post this to help anyone else in a similar situation.