Company in apartment, daily rentals. Association will be able to end it

A proposed amendment to Poland's law on property ownership aims to give condominium associations greater control over how individual units are used. Under the revised legislation, changing a unit's function from residential to commercial would require explicit approval from the association through a resolution.

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The Constitutional Tribunal may treat this provision as an attack on property rights. Additionally, the regulation can be interpreted differently; one might argue it only applies to changing the purpose of a residential unit to commercial. One could also interpret that the provision applies to the purpose of a residential unit for short-term rental.

Owners seeking such a change would need to submit a request, and the association would have a maximum of two months to make a decision. If the association denies the request, the owner would retain the right to challenge the decision in court. This provision seeks to balance the rights of property owners with the potential impact on the living environment for other residents.

However, the proposed regulations have raised questions among legal experts and industry stakeholders. Lawyer Dariusz Wociór suggested that the provision might be challenged at the Constitutional Tribunal as an infringement on property rights. He also noted ambiguity regarding whether the rule applies solely to changing residential units to commercial ones or also encompasses short-term rental arrangements.

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For me, it is also not clear whether the project concerns short-term rentals. So far, the approach of the Minister of Finance has been that he treated short-term rental as a rental, not a hotel service, and allowed for flat-rate settlements. It would be better if the regulations were unambiguous.

Ewa Wielgórska, president of Fairy Flats, a short-term rental operator, echoed these concerns, stating that the legislation's clarity on short-term rentals is lacking. She pointed out that the Ministry of Finance has previously treated short-term rentals as standard rentals, allowing for simplified tax settlements. The ambiguity could create uncertainty for businesses operating in this sector.

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We are not prejudging whether renting an apartment for a day is a change in the purpose of that premises. There is no doubt that it should not be the case that when buying an apartment in a residential building, one has to tolerate nuisances that result from the purpose of the neighboring apartment for business activity. Such situations are not uncommon. Apartments are used for offices, beauty salons, medical practices, shops, or hotel services are provided in them.