Poland proposes housing cooperative reforms amid rising debt

The Polish government is preparing a major reform of housing cooperatives. The proposed changes include introducing fixed terms for management boards, facilitating resident access to documents, and allowing remote participation in general meetings. However, the most controversial aspect involves tightening laws regarding debtors. Under the proposed rules, if a member of a cooperative fails to pay fees for at least six months, the cooperative could seek to terminate their right to the premises through court. Crucially, the reform aims to remove current protections that allow tenants to prevent the termination of their rights by paying off arrears before a court ruling.

This legislative move comes amid significant data regarding housing debt in Poland. According to Statistics Poland (GUS) data from the end of 2024, approximately 1.89 million apartments have outstanding payments, totaling over 8.58 billion PLN. Within housing communities, over 660,000 apartments owned by individuals have arrears amounting to 1.26 billion PLN. In the Mazovian Voivodeship, the prevalence of arrears in such communities is reported at 21.6 percent.