More low-cost homes for Polish families

Officials and executives on Thursday attended a ceremony during which rental rights to the 34 low-cost dwellings in two apartment buildings were transferred to future tenants in the west-central town of Kępno, public broadcaster Polish Radio reported.

The apartments, with an average size of around 50 square metres, are being made available to tenants on a turnkey basis after builders broke the ground on the site just over a year ago, Polish Radio reported.

Under the Polish government’s Home-plus programme, tenants are given an opportunity to acquire ownership of low-cost apartments after a certain number of years if they meet specific conditions, according to reports.

Infrastructure and Construction Minister Andrzej Adamczyk said last year that Poland was near the bottom of the list in Europe in terms the number of housing units per 1,000 inhabitants, a statistic that he said “must be changed.”

There is still a shortage of around 3 million housing units in Poland, real estate experts say.

In another project as part of the Polish government’s Home-plus programme, about 2,700 low-cost apartments for rental will be built in Warsaw, officials said in August.

Polish President Andrzej Duda earlier that month signed into law a bill aiming to speed up the construction of new homes amid a housing shortage.

The number of homes completed in Poland rose 6.3 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2017, according to the country’s Central Statistical Office.

(gs/pk)

Source: Polish Radio