An old flat that needs renovation pays off in Warsaw only if the price, PCC, notary, the renovation itself and the months in which you pay rent and cannot move in add up to less than a ready flat of the same size in the same district. According to the NBP, the average transaction price on the resale market in Warsaw in Q2 2026 was about PLN 16,700/m². A full renovation of 50 m² costs over PLN 100,000 on nationwide estimates for 2026. The margin in such a sum can be thin, so it is worth doing it on paper before you phone the seller.
This text is for people who already live in Warsaw, rent, and want to buy an old flat in order to pay less. You get a ready cost sheet, a worked example, renovation price ranges with dates, short rules on permits and inspections, and a separate section on the position of a foreign buyer. Figures and legal position: October 2026.
The cost sheet: seven items to fill in
The starting point is an inequality:
price + PCC + notary and court fees + renovation with a reserve + costs during the renovation ≤ price of the ready equivalent
In practice you enter seven items in a table. For each one, the sections below give a source for the figure or say that you need to ask the notary.
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
| Item | Where to get the figure |
|---|---|
| 1. Price of the flat to renovate | the listing, after negotiation |
| 2. PCC | 2% of market value, or PLN 0 with the first-flat exemption |
| 3. Notary fee and court fees for the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) | the notary’s calculation, before the preliminary agreement |
| 4. Renovation | the per-m² range plus a reserve for surprises |
| 5. Rent during the renovation | months × your current rent |
| 6. Charges for the new flat during the renovation | months × administration charge (czynsz administracyjny) or cooperative payments |
| 7. Mortgage instalment during the renovation (if you buy with a loan) | months × the instalment in the bank’s offer |
Fill in the same table for a ready flat in the same district and a similar building. You will then see whether the price difference covers everything that the renovation adds.
Item 2: PCC and the first-flat exemption
On the resale market, tax on civil-law transactions (PCC) is 2% (art. 7 ust. 1 pkt 1 lit. a of the PCC Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 191). The base is market value, and the law says it is to be set taking into account, among other things, condition and degree of wear (art. 6 ust. 2). So the condition of the flat matters. If the value in the deed is understated, the tax office calls on you to state or raise it within a period of not less than 14 days (art. 6 ust. 3). The tax is collected by the notary as the withholding agent (art. 10 ust. 2).
Since 31 August 2023 the exemption in art. 9 pkt 17 has applied. It covers a buyer who, on the day of purchase and before, held no ownership of a residential unit or house, no cooperative ownership right to a unit and no share in them. The exception is a share of up to 50% acquired by inheritance. For a purchase by two people, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) ruled on 7 April 2026 (III FSK 281/25) that the exemption may apply in proportion to the share of the person who meets the conditions. The case concerned an unmarried couple and is a ruling in a single case, so ask the notary before the deed how PCC will be calculated.
Items 3, 5, 6 and 7: renovation time costs money
Notary and fees. Ask the notary to calculate the notary fee and the court fees for entries in the land and mortgage register before the preliminary agreement.
The renovation period. In these months you usually pay twice: rent for your current home and charges for the new one. In a housing cooperative the charges also include a contribution to the renovation fund (art. 6 ust. 3 of the Housing Cooperatives Act). If you buy with a loan, the instalment comes on top. Enter all these amounts in the sheet.
How many months you can afford. For each option, work out the difference between the price of the ready equivalent and the total cost of the flat to renovate (items 1–4). Divide it by the sum of monthly costs from items 5–7. The result is the number of months after which the saving disappears. If the crew needs more time than that, the ready flat comes out cheaper.
A worked example: 40 m² for PLN 480,000
The inputs are assumptions for the exercise, not market data. A 40 m² flat for PLN 480,000. Renovation to a mid-range standard at PLN 2,000–3,500/m² (Oferteo, May 2026), that is PLN 80,000–140,000. PCC at 2% without the exemption is PLN 9,600. In total PLN 569,600–629,600, still without the notary and without months of rent.
Now the ready equivalent. If 40 m² cost what the NBP average transaction price for Warsaw in Q2 2026 amounts to, then 40 × PLN 16,700 = PLN 668,000. The difference on paper is about PLN 38,400–98,400. But that is an average for the whole city, not for your district, so in the sheet enter the price of the specific ready flat you are viewing. If you qualify for the PCC exemption, subtract PLN 9,600 from the cost of the flat to renovate. Out of the whole difference you still have to pay the notary and the months of double payments.
Item 4: what a full renovation costs per m²
There is no separate verified average for Warsaw. Two independent 2026 sources give consistent nationwide ranges:
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
| Source (date) | Range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| nieruchomosci-online.pl (July 2026) | over PLN 100,000 for 50 m², about PLN 2,000–3,000/m² | full renovation, materials and labour |
| Oferteo (May 2026, offers from 2025–2026) | economy PLN 1,000–1,800/m², mid-range PLN 2,000–3,500/m², premium from PLN 4,000/m² | data from all of Poland |
Warsaw prices for individual jobs from the kb.pl price list (April 2026, gross prices, an estimate based on offers found online):
- a new electrical point with materials: PLN 229;
- reworking an electrical point, labour only: PLN 119;
- plaster skim coat: PLN 62.20/m²;
- laying standard wall tiles, without materials: PLN 127/m².
Labour is getting dearer. According to SEKOCENBUD, estimating labour rates (net) rose by 5.4–6.6% year on year in Q2 2026. Add a reserve to the estimate for whatever turns up once the plaster and tiles come off.
What hides behind “needs renovation”
In a listing, “needs renovation” is the seller’s description, not a technical or legal category. Costs are usually decided by what you cannot see: installations, risers and the legal restrictions of the building.
- Wielka płyta (large-panel block). ITB research, which the government reported in 2019 (the communication “Wielka płyta jest bezpieczna”), found these buildings durable, but the condition of a particular building depends on maintenance. Ask the manager for the records of periodic inspections.
- Kamienica (pre-war tenement house). Check whether the building is on the register of monuments. Under art. 29 ust. 7 of the Construction Law (wording from 3 June 2026), works in an object entered in the register need a building permit, and in an area entered in the register a notification. In both cases you also need a permit from the voivodeship monument conservator or a confirmation that he did not object.
- A 1990s block and any other. Establish the form of ownership: separate ownership of the unit (a homeowners’ community, wspólnota mieszkaniowa) or a cooperative ownership right to the unit. It determines whom you ask for consent to work on risers and walls.
Permits: what you can do yourself and what needs notification or a resolution
Legal position as of October 2026 (Construction Law, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 524), for buildings not on the register of monuments and not in an area entered in the register.
No permit and no notification: renovation of the unit, meaning restoring its original state (art. 3 pkt 8, art. 29 ust. 4 pkt 2 lit. a); interior alterations that do not touch structural elements or external walls (art. 29 ust. 4 pkt 1 lit. a); internal installations other than gas (art. 29 ust. 4 pkt 3 lit. d).
Notification: renovating external walls or structural elements (art. 29 ust. 3 pkt 2 lit. b) and a gas installation (art. 29 ust. 3 pkt 3 lit. d), with a design (art. 30 ust. 4c). You file it before starting work, on paper or through e-Budownictwo. The authority has 21 days from delivery to object by decision. If you do not start work within 3 years, the notification must be filed again (art. 30 ust. 4d, 5 and 5b).
Building permit: reconstructing structural elements in a multi-family building, for example an opening in a load-bearing wall, generally requires one (art. 28 ust. 1).
Homeowners’ community and cooperative. Reconstruction of common property (parts of the building and equipment that do not serve only the unit owners, art. 3 ust. 2 of the Act on Ownership of Premises) needs a resolution of the owners (art. 22 ust. 3 pkt 5), as do merging or dividing units (art. 22 ust. 4). You must also let the management into the flat when necessary for renovation or for removing a failure in the common parts (art. 13 ust. 2). In buildings where a cooperative is a co-owner, the art. 22 resolutions apply accordingly (art. 27 ust. 2–3 of the Housing Cooperatives Act). For work on load-bearing walls, risers, ventilation, gas or heating, ask the cooperative for consent before the agreement and read its rules and statute.
Installations: who checks the wiring and gas before you buy
Who does the work. For work on electrical and gas installations the contractor needs a qualification certificate: group 1 for electrical power equipment, group 3 for gas equipment (regulation of 1 July 2022, Dz.U. 2022 item 1392). The certificate expires 5 years after issue (art. 54 ust. 1aa of the Energy Law, as of October 2026). Ask the contractor to show a valid certificate.
Building inspections. Periodic inspections are ordered by the owner or manager of the building, that is the community, the manager or the cooperative, not the resident (art. 62 of the Construction Law, as of October 2026):
- at least once a year: gas installations and flues;
- at least once every 5 years: among other things, an inspection of the electrical installation, including insulation resistance and earthing.
Inspections are carried out by people with building qualifications. Electrical and gas installations may also be checked by people with supervisory qualifications, and flues by a master chimney sweep. The records of these inspections will show the state of the shared installations before you pay a deposit.
Why before the purchase. The seller is not liable for a defect that the buyer knew about when the agreement was concluded (art. 557 § 1 of the Civil Code). If a private person is selling, the parties may limit or exclude liability for physical defects (rękojmia, statutory warranty) (art. 558 § 1). The exclusion does not work if the seller fraudulently concealed the defect (art. 558 § 2). For defects in real estate the warranty period is 5 years from handing over the unit (art. 568 § 1). What else to check in the documents is covered in our guide what to check before a resale transaction.
If you are not a Polish citizen: what changes
Legal position as of October 2026.
No permit is needed to buy a flat. A foreigner of any nationality buys a self-contained residential unit without an MSWiA permit (art. 8 ust. 1 pkt 1 of the Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners, consolidated text Dz.U. 2017 item 2278). The exception concerns the border zone, and Warsaw is not on its list (art. 8 ust. 3; regulation Dz.U. 2005 no. 188 item 1580). Ukrainian citizens with UKR or CUKR status buy on general terms, because the Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 1293) has no provisions on real estate. A share in the land and the common parts of the building needs no permit. A share in a separate property sold together with the unit, for example in an access road, does need a permit according to MSWiA guidance. So ask the notary to show in advance exactly what is part of the transaction.
Building documents in Polish. Inspection records, community resolutions, the cooperative’s statute and the contractor’s estimate are in Polish. Written certified translations and oral interpreting are done by a sworn translator (art. 13 of the Act on the Sworn Translator Profession). The list of sworn translators is kept by the Minister of Justice and published in the BIP.
The deed at the notary. Notarial acts are conducted in Polish. At a party’s request, the notary may additionally conduct the act in a foreign language, personally or with a sworn translator (art. 2 § 3 of the Notaries Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 614). If a participant does not know Polish and has no interpreter, the notary translates personally or through a translator (art. 87 § 1 pt 1). Before signing, the deed is read out, and the notary must make sure the participants understand its content and meaning (art. 94 § 1). Ask in particular for the clause limiting liability for defects (rękojmia) to be translated. In an old flat it decides who pays for hidden defects.
Checks on the source of funds. The notary and the agent are obliged institutions under the Polish AML Act (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 item 644). For an occasional transaction equal to or above €15,000 they establish your identity, the beneficial owner and the purpose of the transaction, and check the source of funds when circumstances justify it (art. 34 ust. 1, art. 35 ust. 1). Without these measures the transaction is not carried out (art. 41 ust. 1). The bank notifies the GIIF (General Inspector of Financial Information) of transfers above €15,000, including from abroad (art. 72). Keep documents on the source of the money for the purchase and the renovation to hand.
The tax is the same. PCC at 2% and the first-flat exemption do not depend on nationality. Check the conditions of the exemption with the notary before the deed.
Renting during the renovation. In an ordinary lease the deposit may not exceed 12 times the monthly rent, and in an occasional lease (najem okazjonalny) 6 times (art. 6 ust. 1 and art. 19a of the Tenants’ Rights Protection Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2023 item 725). In the sum, count not only the months of double payments but also the fact that the deposit for the flat you rent will not come back immediately when you move out.
If you rely on temporary protection. Planning to leave Poland during the renovation? A departure of more than 30 days ends the protection (art. 109b ust. 1 pkt 2 of the Act on Granting Protection to Foreigners, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 862). Buying a flat does not by itself give a right of residence either, because the Act on Foreigners (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 item 1079) does not list real estate as such a basis.
“Lokal za remont” from the city: this is not a purchase
The “Lokal za remont” programme is easy to mistake for a sale, but it is a lease of a flat from the stock of the City of Warsaw, not a purchase. Its basis is Ordinance no. 144/2024 of 26 January 2024. The programme is for people on the waiting list for a lease of indefinite duration because of low income and unmet housing needs, who are able to renovate the unit themselves.
The general criteria for a lease from the city stock are permanent residence in Warsaw, income over the last 12 months not above the threshold, housing conditions that need improving, and no ability to meet the need on your own. When we checked on 27.09.2026, the programme page contained no separate conditions for 2026. If you have PLN 600,000 for a purchase, this programme is most likely not for you. If you are torn between an old and a new flat, see the comparison of new and resale flats in Warsaw or the text on a flat finished by the developer. A fuller overview of the rules for buyers of an old flat is in the guide whether buying a flat to renovate pays off.
FAQ
How much cheaper is a flat that needs renovation than a ready one in Warsaw?
There is no single reliable figure. As of October 2026 we found no two independent, dated sources measuring this gap for Warsaw. A reference point from the NBP: the average transaction price on the resale market in Warsaw in Q2 2026 was about PLN 16,700/m². Compare a flat to renovate with ready flats in the same district and the same type of building.
How much does a full renovation of 50 m² cost in Poland?
According to nationwide estimates for 2026, a full renovation of 50 m² with materials costs over PLN 100,000, or about PLN 2,000–3,000/m² (nieruchomosci-online.pl, July 2026). Oferteo (offer data from 2025–2026, May 2026) gives PLN 2,000–3,500/m² for a mid-range standard. These sources publish no separate average for Warsaw.
Can a foreigner buy an old flat in Warsaw without a permit?
Yes. A foreigner of any nationality buys a self-contained residential unit without a permit from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA), and Warsaw is not in the border zone (art. 8 ust. 1 pkt 1 and ust. 3 of the Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners). UKR or CUKR status changes nothing here. A permit is needed when you buy, together with the flat, a share in a separate property, for example an access road (MSWiA guidance). Legal position as of October 2026.
What tax does the buyer of a resale flat pay?
Tax on civil-law transactions (PCC) is 2% of market value, and the law says the unit’s condition and degree of wear must be taken into account. Nationality does not matter. Since 31.08.2023 the purchase of a first flat is exempt from PCC for a person who previously held no residential unit, house, cooperative ownership right or share in them (with exceptions, art. 9 pt 17). Legal position as of October 2026.
Do I have to notify the authorities about renovating a flat in a block?
An ordinary interior renovation in a building that is not on the register of monuments and does not stand in an area entered in the register needs neither a permit nor a notification. A notification is required for renovating external walls or structural elements and for installing gas; the authority can object within 21 days. An opening in a load-bearing wall generally needs a building permit. Legal position as of October 2026.
How do I sign a notarial deed if my Polish is weak?
Notarial acts are conducted in Polish. If a participant does not know Polish and has no interpreter, the notary translates the deed personally or through a sworn translator (art. 87 § 1 pt 1 and art. 2 § 3 of the Notaries Act). The deed is read out before signing, and the notary must make sure you understand its content and meaning (art. 94 § 1). Legal position as of October 2026.
Let us work it out together before you view
Write to us before the first viewing of a flat to renovate, and if you are comparing it with a new flat, before your first visit to the developer’s sales office. We will help you fill in the sheet for both options and decide what to check on site. We serve clients in English, Ukrainian and five other languages.
On the resale market, the fee and who pays it are set in the brokerage agreement. We do not charge you a fee for help with buying a flat from a developer. Our fee on the primary market arises from our agreements with developers. The agent is Vladyslav Moroz (sole trader, with OC liability insurance).
Jawno · +48 692 649 839 · infojawno@gmail.com
This text is for information only and is not legal advice. Legal position as of October 2026.