Guides
Mortgages, transaction costs, districts and developers, step by step. Plain answers with numbers and sources, written for buyers from abroad too.
9 articles
Know-how
A risk score summarises a developer's filings, finances and track record. It is a screening tool: it cannot see a project's budget, group structure or your contract. Read it together with the escrow type, the DFG, the land register and the prospectus.
Know-how
Polish supervisory rules do not mention citizenship: your residence document and income currency decide. With a residence card and złoty income, expect about 20% down (10% with insurance). What banks ask of each group, late-2026 costs and currency risk.
Know-how
Shell-and-core means walls, screeds and installations ready for finishing; turnkey means ready to live in. Neither is a legal term: you get what the finishing annex of your developer agreement describes, so compare that document, not the label.
Know-how
Banks take confirmed net income, deduct living costs and existing commitments (including unused card limits), and test the instalment at a rate at least 2.5 points higher. A worked example shows why the buffer alone can cut the maximum loan by about a fifth.
Know-how
Buying from a developer: VAT is already in the price and there is normally no 2% PCC. Owning: an annual property tax of up to 1.25 zł per m² in 2026. Renting and selling have their own rules, explained here with the points that still need a tax adviser.
Know-how
Polish law has two escrow types. Open escrow releases your payments to the developer stage by stage after bank checks; closed escrow releases them only after ownership is transferred. The developer pays a DFG contribution of 0.45% (open) or 0.1% (closed).
Know-how
The reservation agreement is optional, written, and capped at a 1% fee. The developer agreement is a notarial deed with mandatory content set by law. Neither has a cooling-off period: you can withdraw only on grounds listed in the Developer Act, often within 30 days.
Know-how
VAT is inside the price and there is usually no PCC. You pay notary fees for two deeds (the developer agreement is split 50/50), land-register court fees, bank costs and fit-out. For a 600,000 zł flat with a mortgage, notary and court fees are about 4,750 zł at maximum rates.
Know-how
Non-EEA foreigners usually need no permit to buy a self-contained flat in Poland; EEA and Swiss citizens do not need one for a flat. Exceptions: the border zone, houses and plots. What the notary and banks ask for, and how signing works without Polish.
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