You live in Warsaw, you have found a second-hand flat, and the seller offers a preliminary agreement (umowa przedwstępna) and a deposit. Before you sign, check seven things: the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) in all four sections, the type of right to the flat, who lives there and is registered there, arrears owed to the owners’ association or housing cooperative, the building’s documents, the full cost of the purchase, and the form of the preliminary agreement itself. A foreigner has three more things to consider: no MSWiA permit is needed for a flat, but the documents and the notarial deed will be in Polish, and the notary and the bank may ask where the money comes from. We give the legal basis for each point (as at October 2026).
The resale market has no escrow account (mieszkaniowy rachunek powierniczy) and no information prospectus, as when buying from a developer. What protects you is what you check yourself and what you write into the agreement. We compare resale and new flats in comparison of new-build and resale flats in Warsaw.
What changes for a foreigner: permit, language, money
No MSWiA permit is needed for a flat. A foreigner acquires a self-contained residential unit without a permit from the Minister of the Interior, regardless of nationality (art. 8 sec. 1 pt 1 of the Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners, consolidated text Dz.U. 2017 item 2278). The exception is the border zone (art. 8 sec. 3), but Warsaw is not in it: from the Mazowieckie voivodeship the list includes only the gminas of Sarnaki and Stara Kornica. A garage unit serving your housing needs also requires no permit (art. 8 sec. 1 pt 1a), and the share in the land and common parts goes with the unit. By contrast, according to MSWiA guidance a permit is needed for a share in a separate property, for example an access road or part of an estate sold together with the flat. Where a permit was required and not obtained, the acquisition is invalid (art. 6 sec. 1). So in the register and in the draft agreement, check what you are buying besides the unit itself. Citizens of the EEA and Switzerland need no permit at all (art. 8 sec. 2).
Documents and the deed will be in Polish. Notarial acts are performed in Polish. If you do not know Polish and there is no translation, the notary translates the deed personally or through a sworn translator, art. 2 § 3 and art. 87 § 1 pt 1 of the Notaries Act (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 614). The deed is read out before signing, and the notary must make sure you understand it (art. 94 § 1). Your nationality is entered in the deed (art. 92 § 1 pt 4a). The register extract, cooperative certificates and the lease will also reach you in Polish before the notary visit, so order their translation or read them with a translator before paying a deposit. The meaning of Polish words in these documents is collected in the dictionary of Polish terms used when buying a flat.
Power of attorney. If you cannot attend the notary, a power of attorney to buy a flat is drawn up as a notarial deed (art. 99 § 1 and art. 158 of the Civil Code). Agree the form of a power of attorney issued abroad with a notary in Poland beforehand.
Your money is checked. The notary and the real estate agent are obliged institutions within the meaning of the AML Act (art. 2 sec. 1 pt 13 and 18, consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 item 644). For an occasional transaction from €15,000 they establish your identity and the beneficial owner, and check the source of funds when circumstances justify it (art. 34 sec. 1, art. 35 sec. 1). If these measures cannot be applied, the transaction is not carried out (art. 41 sec. 1). A bank reports transfers above €15,000 to the General Inspector of Financial Information (GIIF), including from abroad (art. 72). The Act gives no closed list of documents; MSWiA lists as examples tax returns, employment contracts, a gift, a loan, the sale of another property. Citizens of some non-EEA states may be subject to additional restrictions, so check with the notary. Plan the flow of money before the deposit, not before the deed.
PESEL, taxes and residence. Taxes on the purchase do not depend on nationality: on the resale market a foreigner pays the same PCC as a Polish citizen (amounts below). Whether you need a PESEL or NIP, settle with the notary. Buying a flat does not itself give a right of residence, because the Act on Foreigners contains no such basis. Owning a flat can, however, evidence your legal title to accommodation in an application for EU long-term resident status (art. 219a sec. 1, applied from 27 April 2026). More in can a foreigner buy a flat in Poland.
The land and mortgage register: how to read it before the preliminary agreement
Ask the seller for the register number. Registers are public (art. 2 of the Land and Mortgage Registers Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 1066), and browsing a register by number in the Ministry of Justice system is free (art. 36⁴ sec. 6). A printout from the browser does not have the force of a document issued by the court (art. 36⁴ sec. 7).
The register has four sections (art. 25 sec. 1). Read all of them, not only section II:
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| Section | What it contains | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| I | description of the property | whether the address, flat number and area match the advert |
| II | ownership and perpetual usufruct | whether the seller is entered as owner; whether there are co-owners who must also sign |
| III | limited rights in rem (e.g. easements, life-long maintenance), restrictions on disposal, other rights and claims | whether anyone has the right to live in the flat, whether another buyer’s claim is entered |
| IV | mortgages | which bank holds the mortgage and how it will be repaid from the price |
A mortgage in section IV does not rule out a purchase, but establish before the agreement from which part of the price it will be repaid. Ask for a bank certificate of the amount to be repaid and consent to deleting the mortgage, and write this into the agreement.
The public reliability of land registers has limits. The law protects someone who relied on the register, but not always:
- it does not work against an acquirer in bad faith or on a gratuitous acquisition (art. 6 sec. 1 and 2);
- it is excluded by a note of an application and a warning in the register (art. 8). A note means an application not yet decided by the court; ask the seller what it concerns;
- it does not cover rights that may be missing from the register, e.g. those arising by operation of law, life-long maintenance, a necessary road and a transmission easement (art. 7).
Hence the rule: besides the register, read the documents on which the seller acquired the flat, that is, the notarial deed or the court’s decision on inheritance.
Which right you are buying: ownership, cooperative right, land after conversion
Separate ownership of a unit is checked in the register, as above. The cooperative ownership right to a unit (spółdzielcze własnościowe prawo do lokalu) is a different right from ownership, and a register for it is possible but not mandatory (art. 1 sec. 3 of the Land and Mortgage Registers Act). The Act provides the exemption from an MSWiA permit for a self-contained unit within the meaning of the Act on Ownership of Premises, so as a foreigner ask the notary before the deposit how that rule applies to your transaction.
Perpetual usufruct of land under residential buildings turned into ownership on 1 January 2019 (art. 1 sec. 1 of the Conversion Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 item 6), and for the conversion an annual charge is paid for 20 years, by 31 March (art. 7 sec. 5 and 6): ask for confirmation that it has been paid. The gmina also has a right of pre-emption, among others over properties on the register of monuments and in revitalisation areas (art. 109 sec. 1 pt 4, 4a and 4b of the Real Estate Management Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 399); ask the notary whether it applies to the flat you chose.
Who lives in the flat and who is registered there
A tenant stays: the buyer steps into the lease (art. 678 § 1 of the Civil Code, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 795), and you cannot terminate a fixed-term lease in writing with a certified date, where the flat has been handed over, merely because of the purchase (art. 678 § 2). Ask for a copy of the lease before the deposit. Registration of residence serves only record-keeping (art. 28 sec. 4 of the Population Register Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 384) and gives no right to the flat; someone who moved out can be deregistered by decision of the authority, ex officio or at the owner’s request (art. 35). In the preliminary agreement, write that the seller will deregister everyone and hand over the flat free of people and belongings by a set date, and agree what part of the price you pay only after handover.
Whether there are debts to the association or cooperative
Advance payments towards management costs in an owners’ association are paid by the 10th of the month (art. 15 sec. 1 of the Act on Ownership of Premises, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 232), and in a housing cooperative too, unless the statute sets a later date (art. 4 sec. 6² of the Housing Cooperatives Act). Ask the seller for the latest certificate from the manager or cooperative confirming no arrears, and write into the agreement an obligation to present it again before the deed. Ask also about monthly charges and planned resolutions.
Condition of the building and flat: which documents to request
Ask the manager for the latest inspection reports: gas installations and chimneys are inspected at least once a year, the technical condition of the building and electrics at least once every 5 years (art. 62 sec. 1 pt 1 lit. c and pt 2 of the Construction Law, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 524). The seller hands over the energy performance certificate at the deed (art. 11 sec. 1 pt 1 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 item 101), and you cannot waive this right (art. 11 sec. 4), so ask for it earlier. Planning alterations? An opening in a load-bearing wall generally requires a building permit (art. 28 sec. 1 and art. 29 sec. 4 pt 1 lit. a of the Construction Law), and a gas installation a notification with a design (art. 29 sec. 3 pt 3 lit. d and art. 30, as at October 2026). The seller’s statutory warranty for defects (rękojmia) on real estate lasts 5 years from handover (art. 568 § 1 of the Civil Code), but a private seller can limit it unless they fraudulently concealed a defect (art. 558 § 2), so write into the agreement what you saw and were told.
What you pay on top of the flat’s price
PCC (tax on civil-law transactions) on a resale purchase is 2% of market value, collected by the notary (art. 4 pt 1, art. 6 sec. 1 pt 1, art. 7 sec. 1 pt 1 lit. a, art. 10 sec. 2 of the PCC Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 191). Since 31 August 2023 an exemption applies to buying a first flat (art. 9 pt 17). For shares bought by an unmarried couple, the Supreme Administrative Court in its judgment of 7 April 2026 (III FSK 281/25) held that the exemption may apply proportionately, but that is a ruling in one case and must not be generalised to every purchase by two people. If you have or have had a flat, ask the notary before the deed whether they will apply the exemption.
The notary’s fee for a sale agreement of a unit is no more than half of the maximum rate (§ 6 pt 19 of the regulation on maximum notary fees, consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 item 1566). For a value from PLN 60,000 to PLN 1,000,000 the maximum rate is PLN 1,010 plus 0.4% of the excess over PLN 60,000 (§ 3 pt 5), plus 23% VAT. An extract of the deed costs PLN 6 per started page (§ 12 sec. 1). Agree the cost of translating the deed with the notary in advance. Court fees (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 item 1228): entry of ownership PLN 200 (art. 42 sec. 1), entry of a claim PLN 150 (art. 43 pt 3).
An example as at October 2026 (own calculation under the norms above, no mortgage):
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| Flat price | PLN 600,000 | PLN 800,000 |
|---|---|---|
| PCC 2% (no exemption) | PLN 12,000 | PLN 16,000 |
| Notary’s fee incl. 23% VAT, maximum | PLN 1,949.55 | PLN 2,441.55 |
| Entry of ownership in the register | PLN 200 | PLN 200 |
| Total (excluding extracts and translation) | PLN 14,149.55 | PLN 18,641.55 |
These are maximum amounts. The notary may set a lower fee, and with a PCC exemption the largest item disappears.
Preliminary agreement: simple written form or notarial deed
A preliminary agreement should state the essential terms of the final agreement (art. 389 § 1 of the Civil Code). Enter a specific date for the final agreement: without one, if neither party sets a deadline within a year, you can no longer demand it be concluded (art. 389 § 2). The form decides what you can do if the seller changes their mind:
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| Simple written form | Notarial deed | |
|---|---|---|
| The other party avoids the agreement | damages (art. 390 § 1) | you can demand that the sale agreement be concluded (art. 390 § 2 in conjunction with art. 158) |
| Entry of the claim in the register | no | yes, in section III (art. 16 sec. 2 pt 2 of the Land and Mortgage Registers Act) |
| Limitation of claims | one year from the day the sale agreement was due to be concluded (art. 390 § 3) | the same |
For a foreigner a notarial deed has one more advantage: the notary must translate it if you do not know Polish (art. 87 § 1 pt 1 of the Notaries Act). You sign an agreement in simple form yourself, so you arrange translation before signing on your own.
An entered claim also works against rights later acquired by others (art. 17 of the Land and Mortgage Registers Act). The entry costs PLN 150, deletion PLN 75 (as at October 2026). If a year has passed since the entry and nobody has filed an application to enter a right, the owner can unilaterally demand deletion (art. 19 sec. 1), so plan the final agreement earlier. With a mortgage, write down what happens to the money paid if the bank refuses. We describe the difference between a deposit and an advance in deposit or advance payment when buying a resale flat.
FAQ
Does a foreigner need an MSWiA permit to buy a resale flat in Warsaw?
No. A foreigner buys a self-contained residential unit without an MSWiA permit regardless of nationality, outside the border zone, and Warsaw is not in it (art. 8 sec. 1 pt 1 and sec. 3 of the Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners, as at October 2026). A permit may be needed if a share in a separate property, such as an access road, is sold together with the flat (MSWiA guidance).
Can I buy a flat in Poland if I do not read Polish?
Yes. The notarial deed is drawn up in Polish, but if you do not know the language, the notary translates the deed personally or through a sworn translator (art. 87 § 1 pt 1 of the Notaries Act). The deed is read out before signing, and the notary must make sure you understand it (art. 94 § 1, as at October 2026). Have certificates and extracts you receive before the transaction translated in advance.
How do I check a flat’s land and mortgage register in Warsaw for free?
Ask the seller for the register number and enter it in the Ministry of Justice’s free register browser. Registers are public, and browsing by number is free of charge (art. 2 and art. 36⁴ sec. 6 of the Land and Mortgage Registers Act, as at October 2026). A printout from the browser does not replace a document issued by the court (art. 36⁴ sec. 7).
Other people are registered at the flat. Can they stay after I buy it?
Registration of residence does not give a right to the flat; it only serves record-keeping (art. 28 sec. 4 of the Population Register Act, as at October 2026). If someone has moved out without deregistering, the owner can file an application and the authority deregisters them by decision (art. 35). A tenant is different: the lease passes to the buyer.
The flat is sold with a tenant. Do I have to take over the lease?
Yes. The buyer steps into the lease in place of the seller (art. 678 § 1 of the Civil Code). If the lease is for a fixed term, in writing with a certified date, and the flat has been handed to the tenant, you cannot terminate it just because of the purchase (art. 678 § 2, as at October 2026). Ask for a copy of the lease before paying a deposit.
Will a foreigner be asked where the money for the flat comes from?
They may be. The notary and the agent, as obliged institutions, identify the client and check the source of funds when circumstances justify it (art. 34 sec. 1 of the AML Act, as at October 2026). If financial security measures cannot be applied, the transaction is not carried out (art. 41 sec. 1). A bank reports transfers above €15,000 to the GIIF, including from abroad. Prepare income documents in advance.
Viewing resale flats in Warsaw? Browse the resale section of our service or write to us before you sign a preliminary agreement. We serve clients in 7 languages. The agent is Vladyslav Moroz (JDG, OC liability insurance). The fee and who pays it are set in the brokerage agreement (umowa pośrednictwa).
Jawno · +48 692 649 839 · infojawno@gmail.com
This text is for information only and is not legal advice. Legal position as at October 2026.