Buying a house in Poland: no permit, but the hectare limit
As an EU citizen you need no permit from the minister to buy in Poland. The exception is in the countryside: agricultural land falls under the act on shaping the agricultural system, and from one hectare only a farmer may buy or whoever gets prior consent from the KOWR. A house in the countryside with a few hectares around it is therefore not a home but agricultural land.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Yes, as a Dutch citizen you buy a house in Poland without a permit. The consent of the Minister of the Interior that foreigners need does not apply to EU citizens.
Count on 3 to 5% purchase costs on top of the price, for transfer tax, notary and land registry. New-build comes with VAT and without transfer tax.
The find at the source is in the frequently asked questions of the KOWR, the national agricultural support centre. The act on shaping the agricultural system has not one limit but three:
- below 0.3 hectares it doesn't apply;
- up to one hectare anyone may buy;
- above that only a farmer or whoever gets prior consent.
So the pitfall is not the city but the countryside. A house with two hectares around it is legally not a home but agricultural land, and that changes the whole purchase.
In your first year you don't buy. You rent, you get to know the city or the region outside the summer visit, and only then do you decide. Why that order is fixed is in why you don't buy a house in your first year. This article is for the moment you've got that far.
Do I need a permit as a Dutch citizen?
Foreigners in Poland in principle need a permit from the Minister of the Interior to buy real estate. For citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland that does not apply. Since the end of the transition period after accession you buy an apartment, a house or a city plot without a permit.
Two exceptions remain: real estate in the border zone, and agricultural land. The second is the important one for this corridor.
When is a house not a house but agricultural land?
Agricultural land falls under the act on shaping the agricultural system, and it has three layers.
| Area of agricultural land | Who may buy |
|---|---|
| below 0.3 hectares | anyone — the act does not apply |
| 0.3 to 1 hectare | anyone, farmer or not |
| from 1 hectare | only a farmer, or whoever has prior consent from the director-general of the KOWR |
A house in the countryside with two hectares of land around it is therefore not a house but agricultural land. The purchase is then not possible without consent. The consent requires that you are going to use the land agriculturally. The KOWR, the national agricultural support centre, grants it in the form of a decision.
Have the notary check the designation and the area in the land register before you pay a deposit, not after. So whoever is looking for a rural life looks at the area before looking at the price. A house with a large garden under one hectare is an ordinary purchase, the same house with a meadow attached is not.
What does buying a house in Poland cost on top of the price?
A purchase in Poland always runs through the notary, who draws up the deed and sees to the registration in the land register.
| Item | When |
|---|---|
| Transfer tax | only on existing buildings |
| VAT | new-build is sold with VAT and carries no transfer tax |
| Notary | the deed and the registration in the land register |
| Together | 3 to 5% of the purchase price for existing buildings |
The cost indication for Poland works with the same band.
For comparison: renting outside Warsaw and Kraków is well below Dutch levels, in the centre of those two cities no longer. And the winter is a real expense, because heating costs money in a country where the cold lasts for weeks. That is what a rental year teaches you before you buy.
Where is my house taxed?
With real estate the tax treaty follows not your residence but the bricks. Income from immovable property may be taxed in the state where that property lies. That is in article 6.
A property in Poland is taxed there, and a home you keep in the Netherlands remains taxed in the Netherlands. Count on filing in both countries. How the rest of your income (pension, AOW, assets) falls under the treaty is in AOW, pension and tax in Poland.
What is the pitfall?
Not the permit, because you don't need one. Not the notary, because they are compulsory and do the work. The pitfall is the ground under the house, and the assumption that what the advert calls "house with land" can also be sold that way.
Ask for the area of agricultural land separately. Count everything above one hectare as a purchase you cannot make without a KOWR decision.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Poland or go straight to step 5.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Biznes.gov.pl — acquisition of real estate by a foreigner — biznes.gov.pl
- Gov.pl — the KOWR on who may buy agricultural land — gov.pl
- Netherlands-Poland treaty for the avoidance of double taxation — wetten.overheid.nl
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