Larger distances from neighbors, mandatory playgrounds in developments with at least 20 apartments, the introduction of minimum areas for commercial units - these are just some of the provisions that will apply to builders of new apartments in just a moment.
Developers will have to comply with the new regulations starting in August. The amendment to the regulation of April 12, 2002 on the technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location, called pat-developer regulations, is intended to improve the quality of life in new housing developments. Although the changes were supposed to take effect in April, the deadline was postponed by the Minister of Development and Technology at the request of local governments and investors. At the time, developers raised a lament that the new law would affect prices, and that going into effect on the April deadline would lead to investment paralysis, as some projects would require changes.
distances, playgrounds, parking spaces
Among other things, the amendment calls for an increase in the distance of a multifamily residential building from the border of the plot. It will be five meters for multifamily buildings over four stories high. Until now it was: three meters - for walls without windows and four meters - for walls with windows or doors. The amendment included provisions targeting micro-apartments. Starting in August, the minimum area of commercial premises is to be 25 sqm. The exception will be first floor premises with direct access from the street.
Provisions on the distance of warehouses and production buildings from housing will change. From now on, the distance will be a minimum of 30 meters. There will also be an obligation to build a utility room (of at least 15 sqm) so that residents can store bicycles there, for example. Also new is the restriction of close-to-building parking spaces for people with disabilities.
In addition, the amendment stipulates that the construction of a playground will be mandatory for buildings or estates with more than 20 apartments (the exception is if there is a publicly accessible children's playground within 750 meters). The regulations also specify what playgrounds are to look like and mandate that they be equipped with features for children of different ages.
The area of a children's playground must be at least:
- 1 sq. m. per apartment - in cases where there are 21 to 50 apartments in a building or complex of buildings;
- 50 sq. m. - in case the building or complex of buildings has 51 to 100 apartments;
- 0.5 sq. m. for each apartment - in case the building or complex of buildings has 101 to 300 apartments;
- 200 sqm. - where there are more than 300 apartments in a building or complex of buildings.
Developers: "Limit unethical practices," but...
Are developers ready for the changes to take effect this time?
Atal is ready for the new building rules, as they have been known for more than half a year , says Matthew Bromboszcz, Atal's deputy CEO. - We have taken them into account in our plans. Nevertheless, every change of this kind, to a greater or lesser extent, requires updating the projects under development. Besides, this is not the only recent legislative change that affects the activities of developers and the design and construction sphere. In this regard, the situation in Poland is very dynamic, and the pace of legislative changes has been rapid in past years. We have to keep up with them, although this is not conducive to optimal planning and preparation of investments.
Robert Maraszek, vice president of Inpro, a development company in Gdansk, stresses that the new regulations are aimed at preventing unethical practices in the housing market, and their final form is a certain compromise worked out with the construction industry.
The new requirements will apply only to new projects, those with obtained building permits will be implemented according to the existing law , says Robert Maraszek. - The new rules will entail a higher cost of investment implementation, there will undoubtedly be a need to change planned projects and, as a result, this may affect the investment decisions of companies, limiting the number of apartments being built. Nevertheless, the purpose of this change is to curb unethical practices in the market.
Maraszek adds that legal changes are usually a challenge for the industry, and therefore an increase in costs, which will translate into the final price of the apartment.
At the same time, it is important to remember that the price of an apartment includes not only construction materials or personnel costs, but also those related to the implementation of new regulations and the need to comply with them , he adds.
"A step in the right direction, but the changes are cosmetic"
Lukasz Pancewicz of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Gdansk University of Technology and A2P2 studio believes that some of the provisions may curb some of the behavior of companies seeking profit at any cost.
On the plus side, I assess the definition of requirements for playgrounds and the introduction of a definition of a public square. Clarifying the minimum area of commercial premises is a way to curb the most pathological cases of separating micro-wallets and will at least clean up a bit the actions of some of the resi for rent investors , the urban planner says.
"Risky" Panacevich calls rigidly defining the distance of manufacturing and warehouse buildings.
Relationships between such uses are the domain of urban planning. Each case is individual, and there are other ways to minimize the nuisance of such facilities. This is a purely populist move that will hit the development of urban fringe zones hard ," says Lukasz Pancewicz.
The city planner doubts that the consequences of rigidly increasing the distance between residential buildings have also been thought through.
A relaxation of development written "rigidly" will not take into account the local context, may worsen the compactness of development and, as a result, may make life difficult for designers and investors. I believe that the changes being made are still cosmetic, implemented heavily in response to the need of the moment, capitalizing on the growing anger at the development industry. What I find missing from the amendment is tackling much more serious challenges such as accessibility in private buildings if only for the aging population or the move toward zero-energy buildings ," says Lukasz Pancewicz.
