Thursday, 16 July 2026
The Instytut Rynku Najmu (IRN) survey for the second quarter of 2026 indicates that Poland’s residential rental market continued to stabilise, although perceptions differed significantly between market experts and private landlords. Both groups reported generally positive overall sentiment, but landlords remained considerably more cautious in their assessment of current market conditions.
The overall market climate index rose to 17.27 points from the perspective of market experts, compared with 1.80 points among landlords. This represents a moderate improvement from the previous quarter, with landlords moving from negative to positive territory for the first time during the survey period. However, when assessing current market conditions specifically, experts remained optimistic, recording 14.55 points, while landlords reported a negative reading of -6.20 points, suggesting they continue to experience more challenging day-to-day operating conditions.
Looking ahead, both groups expect conditions to improve further. Experts recorded a forward-looking market index of 20.00 points, while landlords reported 9.80 points, indicating cautious optimism for the coming quarter.
Demand indicators also revealed differing views. Experts considered rental demand broadly stable, with a reading of -2.40 points, whereas landlords reported a much stronger increase in tenant demand at 13.20 points. According to the report, this may reflect landlords experiencing stronger demand directly, while experts assess the market within a broader economic context.
Income expectations improved for both groups. Experts recorded a current rental income indicator of 10.91 points, while landlords reported 11.00 points, suggesting continued support from stable demand and constrained housing supply. Future income expectations were also positive, at 18.18 points for experts and 17.20 points for landlords.
Financial conditions presented a more mixed picture. Experts reported worsening financial conditions for both landlords and tenants, with tenant finances falling to -14.55 points and landlords to -3.64 points. By contrast, landlords assessed their own current financial position positively at 21.80 points, highlighting a significant gap between market-wide assessments and individual experience. Experts also expressed greater concern about payment risks, while landlords generally reported stable payment performance.
Regulatory and cost-related challenges remain the principal barriers. Among experts, 77.8% identified weak legal protection for landlords as the biggest obstacle, followed by high maintenance costs (51.9%) and repair expenses (50.0%). Landlords ranked the same issues highest, although with lower intensity. Meanwhile, experts identified high rental costs (83.6%), upfront fees such as deposits and agency commissions (67.3%), the exclusion of some tenant groups (54.6%) and growing income uncertainty (47.3%) as the main challenges facing tenants. The proportion of experts citing unclear and unstable regulations doubled from 23% to more than 46% compared with the previous quarter.
Investment activity remained cautious. Most landlords indicated they intended to maintain their current level of investment, while planned activity focused primarily on minor refurbishments rather than portfolio expansion. Experts identified inflation protection, higher rental yields and stronger rental demand as the main factors likely to encourage future investment in rental housing.
According to the accompanying methodology, the survey follows an approach comparable to business sentiment surveys conducted by Statistics Poland (GUS) and Eurostat, using quarterly questionnaires completed by both market professionals and private landlords to measure current conditions and future expectations across the residential rental market.
