Poland: fixer-upper incentive offers discounted rent

DW (English)

Poland is offering discounted rent to people willing to renovate apartments in need of repairs. The measures are meant to ease pressure on the overpriced housing market.

Transcript

00:00I'm Alexandra Skura and I need a new apartment.

00:05Poland has a program to combat its housing shortage.

00:08Cheap rent in return for renovation.

00:11It must have been nice here once, years or more likely decades ago.

00:16But no matter, Alexandra is thrilled.

00:19She wants to rent this neglected apartment in the city of Kielce at half price and renovate it herself.

00:25Walls, floors, gas, water, electricity, almost everything needs work.

00:31But the 30-year-old pastry chef is optimistic.

00:34This place is frozen in time and I want to breathe new life into it.

00:40Evelina Jostrebska from the city government accompanies Alexandra as she takes stock.

00:45She had no trouble finding a tenant.

00:47There are many more brave applicants than there are vacant apartments.

00:51I believe that every tenant who takes on this challenge and participates in the program will succeed.

00:59I want to do most of it myself.

01:04But there is installation work that I don't want to tackle.

01:08I'll leave that to the experts.

01:10Alexandra wants to invest even though it's a rental.

01:15These are rare here.

01:17Almost 90% of Poles own their homes.

01:25Krakow is Poland's second largest city.

01:30I'm Ula Wronska.

01:32Happy we got this apartment near the kids' school.

01:36They have five children.

01:40The youngest isn't in school yet.

01:42Construction in the apartment finished only recently.

01:45Officials also look at family size when selecting tenants.

01:49The more children you have, the better your chances of turning a ruin into a home.

01:57We still smile when we think that our kids helped us get this apartment.

02:00As in many Polish cities, apartment prices in Krakow have skyrocketed by around 30% in 2024.

02:09Most young people can hardly afford them.

02:15Rental prices are ridiculously high.

02:17And the apartments aren't worth it.

02:19If I had to find one, I'd be out of luck.

02:25A new round of allocations is beginning today.

02:28And applicants are lining up for an apartment in need of renovation.

02:32The program has been running for four years.

02:34And it's still like a lottery.

02:36I have two small children.

02:38And this is my last chance to change my living situation.

02:43Wealthy people buy 50 apartments and drive up the prices.

02:47So there's no hope for us to buy one.

02:55This year, a total of 180 apartments are being offered in Krakow.

03:01This one, for example, has to be completely gutted.

03:04Everything needs to be replaced.

03:08Edita Pavluczek in Kielce shows us what it's like to renovate a rental apartment yourself.

03:13My name is Edita and I've waited for this apartment for 27 years.

03:20Given that, living with dust and cement for a few more months is no big deal.

03:24Did she know that the project would be so much work?

03:27No.

03:29But at some point it did dawn on me.

03:31The program is called Renovate to Rent, after all.

03:34She's invested around 70,000 euros in an apartment that she doesn't own and pays rent for on top of that.

03:42Although much less than market value.

03:44The mayor calls it a win-win for the city and its residents.

03:47They live in them, and of course they pay low rent.

03:53So these apartments serve both a financial and a social function for the city.

03:57The mayor's dispassionate analysis is one thing.

04:02But in this building, Anna Pajak has a very emotional relationship with the housing program.

04:06My name is Anna Pajak and this is my dream home.

04:12She's proud that she designed everything herself.

04:17She lives in her model apartment with her son, spider and dog.

04:22But the journey to her dream home began with a nightmare.

04:26The house had long been vacant and almost nothing could be salvaged.

04:29When I got the keys to the apartment, I went to church and prayed that I would have the strength to do all this.

04:42With or without divine help, the Polish model could set an example for many places where housing has become a luxury.

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