Both documents govern regulations and means of acquisition of real properties (apartments, houses, land, etc.) in Poland. Each foreigner who desires to i.e. purchase an apartment, has to obtain a special permit issued by the Minister of Interior and Administration first. The application with a set of required documents has to be submitted to the Ministry.
I. Information to be included in the application
The application for the issuance of the permit on the acquisition of the property shell include detailed information. Both the ordinance and the Act enumerate five crucial points:
1. Designation of the applicant:
In the case of a natural person, the application should include citizenship and address of residence. Legal person or a business entity without legal personality has to fill in the following data:
• address of the registered office;
• objects clause;
• forenames and surnames of Members of the Board;
• information concerning partners and shareholders.
2. Real property designation:
There are three possibilities here. In the case of a land property (a), it is necessary to provide:
• street;
• city;
• commune and voivodeship;
• plot registration number;
• total area of the plot in hectares (ha);
• Land and Mortgage Register number and type of plot development.
If you plan to purchase a building (b), you have to fill in the following information concerning the location of it:
• city;
• street and number;
• commune and voivodeship.
If the Subject Matter to your future purchase agreement is the premises of separate ownership apart from the simple ownership of the building (c), the following data is required:
• street;
• building and premises number;
• city, commune, voivodeship;
• usable area in square meters (sq m);
• shared title to common property, where the premises is located.
3. Designation of the seller:
Natural person should provide their address of residence, and a legal person should provide the address of their registered office and also their title to dispose of the real property.
4. The term of the legal form of the property’s acquisition:
Purchase of the property in Poland requires preparation of the notarial deed, which transfers the ownership rights, under the pain of nullity.
5. Explanation of the purposes for which the property is about to be used:
Most often the property is purchased for the housing purposes, but sometimes foreigners also buy it for the commercial ones. In this case, it has to be stated that the property will be used for other purposes.
II. Documents accompanying the application.
The application itself is not enough to receive a permit for the purchase of a Polish property. In order to have the application considered, it has to be accompanied with a number of documents.
1. Documents which confirm the relations of the foreigner with Poland (for more details see point III.).
2. Certified copy or photocopy of the applicant’s document of identity, in the case of a natural person; in the case of a legal person – excerpt from the appropriate register or record.
3. Following documents concerning the property, issued no later than 6 months before filing in the application:
• excerpt from the Land and Mortgage Register;
• extract from the land registry accompanied with the extract of the property map;
• the Land-Use Changes, if the property was formed in the process of land subdivision or consolidation;
• extract from the current Spatial Development Plan, or the certification of its lack, and also the final Decision on the Site Location of the Public Purpose Investment, or the Decision on the Land Development Conditions – if the use of the property is defined on the basis of such.
4. Declaration of the seller, who is about to sell the property to the foreigner, or the preliminary sales agreement.
5. In the case of foreigners who are legal persons, documents indicating the financial means to purchase the property, and the possibility of financing the business activity to be conducted there should be collected. All these should be issued no later than 3 months prior to the submission of the application, and should include:
• certificate from the Internal Revenue Office stating that the applicant has no arrears with payments due;
• certificate from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) stating that the applicant does not fall behind with payments of contributions to the Social Security Fund;
• a certificate from the bank which runs a current account of the applicant, or its shareholder, specifying the amount of their financial resources, creditworthiness and solvency.
III. Filing in the application and the Stamp Duty
Unfortunately, there is no specimen of the application available, and each foreigner is obliged to prepare their own application based on the Act. After the application is filed in, the applicant has to make a Stamp Duty payment.
1. Stamp Duty
In accordance with the Stamp Duty Act, the obligation of this payment appears always upon the submission of application for any certification, permit, and letter of attorney issuance. Cost of issuance of a permit for the property purchase by the foreigner is 1,570 PLN (323 GBP).
2. When is the permit issued?
The permit for the acquisition of a property by the foreigner is granted when:
• it will not threaten national defence, national security, or public order, and entails no risk to public policy and public health;
• the foreigner proves that there are circumstances which confirm his relations with Poland.
3. What are the circumstances which prove relations with Poland?
Polish law provides a clear definition of circumstances, which confirm that the foreigner is connected with Poland, particularly:
• having polish nationality or origin;
• marriage with the citizen of the Republic of Poland;
• having a residence permit for a specified period of time or a permanent residence permit, or a European Community long-term residence permit;
• being a member of a managing body of a business entity with a legal personality, or in a company or partnership without a legal personality, with the registered office in Poland and controlled by foreigners;
• carrying out a business or agricultural activity in the Republic of Poland, and in accordance with the provisions of polish law.
The Act allows the exemption from the obligation to obtain a permit, which may be applied to the foreigners regardless their citizenship or residence.
Mateusz Kozłowicz /Polish Property
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