Legal Highlights for Real Estate – January 2025
New definitions of building and structure
As of 1 January 1 2025, strictly specified definitions of a building and a structure came into effect, aimed at eliminating interpretative doubts and ensuring unified and correct property taxation. A building is now an object erected as a result of construction work, which has a foundation and roof and is permanently attached to the ground. An important element of this change is the exclusion of facilities in which bulk, liquid or gaseous materials are or can be stored, where the basic parameter is capacity. As a result, many storage facilities will no longer be considered buildings in the tax sense, which could affect property taxes. On the other hand, the definition of structures includes not only facilities not included in the definition of a building, but also wind power plants, nuclear power plants, photovoltaic power plants, biogas plants, energy storage facilities, boilers, industrial furnaces and even foundations for machinery and other technical equipment. The amendment introduces more precise categories, which will avoid doubts when calculating property taxes.
The general plan as a key piece of local legislation
The year 2025 will be a period of change and preparation for 2026. According to the amendment to the Law on spatial planning and development, all studies of land use conditions and directions in Poland will remain valid only until 31 December 2025, after which date they will expire and be replaced by a new tool, i.e. the general plan, which, like the study of land use conditions and directions, will cover the area of the entire municipality, but unlike the study of land use conditions and directions, will have the rank of an act of local law. Every municipality in Poland is required to adopt a general plan. The purpose of this change is to simplify and speed up administrative procedures, as well as to better coordinate construction investment activities.
If a plot of land is covered by a local zoning plan, obtaining a general plan will be much easier. Its absence may result in the inability to issue development conditions. It is worth mentioning that development conditions issued under the new rules will be valid for a period of 5 years, while currently they are issued indefinitely.
For investors, this means that if municipalities delay the resolution of the master plan before the beginning of 2026, it may become impossible to start construction. Municipalities’ financial problems and lack of adequate staff resources could make meeting the 2025 end date difficult to achieve. Municipalities that fail to adopt a general plan by the end of 2025 will lose the legal basis for issuing development conditions
