Why 'działka'?

Most countries in their respective languages speak of a 'summer house', and the Russian call it a dacha. Why do Poles refer instead to a plot of ground, parcel of land or empty lot: działka? Is that a throwback to the commie era when people were reluctant to flaunt their wealth and felt that ‘działka’ sounded less pretentious than ‘dom letniksowy’, let alone ‘letnia rezydencja’?

Technically, a działka is NOT a summer house. It is a garden plot ("allotment" in the UK), a place to grow your fruit and veggies. At some point, some people started expanding their garden sheds into small houses, and some actually built second homes - but this is not legal unless you buy a działka with a building permit attached AFAIK.

So yes, calling it a plot of land is actually very accurate ;-)

Most of the people I know in Poland mean they're going to their summer house when they say 'Jedziemy na działkę.'

Very true. But Magdalena's reply shows that it's really just a piece of land to grow things on, which the owner later built a summer house on.

It's a bit like property law in the UK; house buyers concentrate on the house rather than the land, but purchase contracts tend to say something like "the land at number xx street and all that is situate on it"... which suggests that you've paid your £150K for a piece of land, and the house you're going to live in is just an added bonus. ;)

I am not really sure what you mean, could you please explain.

No, you can buy soil/land but not right to build anything serious there. If you build a house you are doing that at your own risk. Some beautiful day, they may knock on your door and ask what are you doing with sewage or something like that.

As far as I am aware (My friends sold two plots last week) when you buy a działka there are restrictions on what you can erect on them (as Magda said). And as NMP said you own the land including all mineral rights etc and not the lease to the land which is the case in the UK.

Building permits restrict any structure to single story buildings of limited size and so on. As działkas are located outside the towns families often spend large parts of the summer there so they can tend their fruit and veg before and after work.

The restrictions allow for a degree of comfort during the summer but make them impossible to inhabit in wintertime. A year or two back there was a proposal to relax the building law allowing permanently inhabitable buildings to be constructed but I think this proposal was shelved cos my friends would not have sold if the potential for development (and increased value) was still there.

Magda is right on.. all the other talk about buildings etc, may or may not apply. it all depends.. and not all dzialki are out in the country..

This also may mean 'a portion of some substance', mostly drugs e.g.

Kupił dwie działki marychy od dilera pod szkołą.

He bought two portions of marijuana from a dealer by the school.

Cinek

The law was changed to allow foreigners to buy a " dzialka " about two years ago and many Poles bought up large lots in the hope of making money. I think you will find in this market which is very tight, if you have a buyer,especially a cash buyer you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.


1. you can build nothing.
2. you can build a summer house.
3. you can build a permanent house
4. commercial property.

2,3 and 4 require a permit,if you do not have a permit and want to change the status, you have to approach the man/women who has very greasy hands and likes brown envelopes.