The Polish government is preparing legislation to curb the conversion of single-family homes into overcrowded worker accommodations, with potential fines up to 10,000 złoty.
Quiet Neighborhoods Under Pressure
Increasingly, single-family homes are being converted into collective worker lodgings, causing disturbances and a decline in the quality of life for residents. Complaints are flooding into lawmakers and the Ministry of Development and Technology.
Residents report issues such as noise, fights, uncontrolled parking, and general untidiness around properties. Property owners often ignore neighbor complaints and even interventions from authorities.
Legal Limitations
The issue is being debated in the Sejm’s infrastructure committee. Officials acknowledge the need for swift action, considering limitations on the cubic capacity of single-family buildings.
Preparing new regulations is proving difficult, as the problem intersects multiple areas of law.
Controversial Cubic Capacity Limits
One proposed solution is to limit the cubic capacity of single-family homes to prevent their conversion into collective accommodations. However, concerns exist about the impact on large families and the difficulty of defining acceptable space per person.
Experts Point to Occupancy, Not Size
Experts argue the problem isn’t the size of the house, but the number of occupants, noting that current building law lacks regulations on maximum occupancy in single-family homes. Previous regulations from the 1970s were easily circumvented.
Strengthening building supervision, both financially and in terms of expertise, is suggested as a more realistic solution.
Growing Scale of the Problem
Data presented at a joint government and local government meeting reveals that current regulations allow for dozens of people to be housed in a single-family home.
Officials express concern about settlements specifically built for low-standard worker housing, lacking sanitary and fire safety standards, and warn of potential tragedies.
Limits and Penalties Proposed
The Ministry of Development and Technology proposes limiting the area of a single-family home that can be used for temporary accommodation to 30%. Exceeding this limit would require a change in the building’s usage designation.
Fines of up to 10,000 złoty will be imposed for non-compliance, with potential for repeated penalties.
Pressure for Rapid Changes
The Ministry aims to implement the new regulations quickly, considering both a government bill and a parliamentary initiative.
Local governments express willingness to cooperate but advocate for a return to previous regulations that limited the number of apartments that could be created within a single-family home to two.