Renting in Poland: the deposit, the notarial contract and the signature for your address

As an EU citizen you can simply rent in Poland, but the contract works differently from the Netherlands. On an ordinary rental agreement a landlord may ask for a deposit of at most twelve times the monthly rent. On the najem okazjonalny, the temporary contract of a private landlord, it is at most six times, but there is something in return: at the notary you sign a statement in which you consent to eviction and name another address where you can go in that case. The biggest pitfall lies elsewhere. Without the owner's signature you won't get through the address registration, and without the address registration you get no PESEL.

Which contracts will you come across?

Besides the ordinary rental agreement, the Polish tenant protection act provides for, among others, the najem okazjonalny. As a tenant of a private landlord you need to be able to tell the two apart.

The ordinary rental agreement (umowa najmu) enjoys the full protection of the act. The landlord can only give notice in writing, stating the reason, and only for reasons the act lists. For non-payment or misuse of the home the notice period is at least one month, to the end of a calendar month. If the owner wants to live there himself, it is half a year if you can go elsewhere, and three years otherwise.

The najem okazjonalny is a contract from a private owner who does not let property as a business, for a fixed term of at most ten years. It must be in writing, or it is void. For the landlord it is attractive, because most of the act's protective rules do not apply to it.

What do you sign with a najem okazjonalny?

Three documents come with the contract, and you have to supply all of them yourself:

• a notarial deed in which you submit to enforcement and undertake to vacate the home within the period stated in an eviction demand;
• the designation of another home where you can live if it comes to eviction;
• a statement from the owner of that other home that he agrees to this. The landlord may require the signature on it to be notarially certified.

For an emigrant the second and third documents are the hardest: you don't have a second address in Poland yet. If you lose that other home during the tenancy, you must name a new one within 21 days, otherwise the landlord may give notice with a period of seven days.

The notary may charge no more than one tenth of the minimum wage for that deed. With a minimum wage of 4,806 złoty in 2026, that is at most 480.60 złoty.

The landlord must report the contract, or he loses his advantage. He reports a najem okazjonalny to the tax office of his place of residence within 14 days of the start, and must show you proof of that on request. If he doesn't, the special eviction rules do not apply. Ask for that proof: it also says something about how he handles the rest of his paperwork.

How much deposit may the landlord ask?

Contract	Maximum deposit	Returned within	Notice by the landlord
Ordinary rental agreement	12 × the monthly rent	1 month after vacating	only for legal reasons: 1 month, 6 months or 3 years
Najem okazjonalny	6 × the monthly rent	1 month after vacating	the contract ends on the end date or after the notice period
Najem okazjonalny, new second home not named in time	same	same	7 days

On the ordinary rental agreement the deposit is recalculated on repayment: you get back the number of months' rent you paid, at the rent applying at that moment, and never less than what you deposited. On the najem okazjonalny the landlord may also use it to cover the costs of any eviction.

Besides the rent, a landlord on a najem okazjonalny may only pass on the costs that do not depend on him, such as utilities, unless the contract says otherwise. The rent can only be raised as the contract provides. So read those clauses before you sign, not afterwards.

Why does the signature for your address weigh so heavily?

The address registration is due no later than the thirtieth day after moving in, and for someone who is not the owner the municipality asks for two things: the document showing the owner's right, and his signature on your form that you live there. If the landlord doesn't cooperate, you get stuck there. After a procedure the municipality can still decide that you live there, but that takes time.

So include cooperation with your registration in the contract. A holiday home or room for the first month works too, provided the owner is willing to show his proof of ownership.

Rent or buy straight away?

Rent first. Poland varies a lot by region, and buying a house in the countryside has its own rules (see buying a house in Poland). What you spend on rent and deposit in your budget for the first months is included in the cost estimate for Poland.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.4: 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 3.4 in the open plan.