Thursday, 3 September 2026
Poland is moving towards tighter regulation of short-term accommodation, with proposed legislation that could significantly change the risk profile of apartments purchased for tourist and other temporary stays.
The government adopted an amendment to its short-term accommodation bill on 2 September 2026 that would strengthen the ability of municipalities, housing communities and housing cooperatives to control short-term rental activity. The measures have not yet completed the parliamentary process and should therefore be treated as proposed rules rather than existing law.
One of the most significant elements for residential property investors is the planned ability of housing communities and cooperatives to restrict short-term accommodation within residential buildings. Municipalities would also receive powers to introduce restrictions in designated areas.
If these provisions survive the legislative process, investors considering apartments for short-term operation could face an additional layer of regulatory risk. The viability of an investment would potentially depend not only on national legislation and local planning conditions, but also on decisions taken at municipal and individual building level.
That could be particularly important in Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław and other markets where apartments have been acquired partly to serve tourists and business travellers. Properties purchased on assumptions of higher short-stay revenues could produce different returns if future restrictions required them to move towards conventional residential leasing.
The potential effect on property values is more difficult to determine and will depend on the final legislation and how extensively the new powers are used. Nevertheless, apartments whose investment case depends heavily on short-term accommodation could eventually be valued differently from comparable properties where the permitted operating model is more secure.
The changes could also influence due diligence. Investors may increasingly need to examine the rules and resolutions governing an entire residential building, as well as municipal policy towards short-term accommodation, before calculating expected rental income.
Professional operators managing portfolios of individually owned apartments could face a similar challenge. A portfolio distributed among numerous residential buildings could potentially become subject to different decisions by individual communities or cooperatives. This would create a different regulatory exposure from operating a building specifically structured for temporary accommodation.
The distinction between conventional residential apartments, serviced accommodation and aparthotels could consequently become more important. Purpose-designed hospitality and serviced-apartment properties may offer greater operational certainty in some circumstances, although the treatment of different accommodation formats will ultimately depend on the definitions contained in the final legislation.
Municipal powers could prove particularly important for investment markets. If cities are able to identify areas where short-term accommodation should be limited, regulation could vary substantially between locations within the same city. Properties in districts with heavy concentrations of tourist accommodation could therefore face a different regulatory environment from apartments elsewhere.
The policy also addresses a longstanding tension within residential buildings. Permanent residents and short-term accommodation operators can have different expectations concerning common areas, security, noise and the frequency with which occupants change. Giving residential communities greater influence would strengthen the role of building governance in determining how individual apartments can be operated.
Existing investors will be watching the legislative process particularly closely. The eventual impact will depend on the voting procedures required to introduce restrictions, the treatment of businesses already operating legally, the precise definition of short-term accommodation and any transitional arrangements.
The timetable is also important. The proposed changes are expected to lead towards a new regulatory framework operating from 2028 rather than producing an immediate prohibition on existing short-term rentals. Until the parliamentary process is completed and implementing provisions are settled, the final scope of the restrictions remains subject to change.
For developers, the proposals could influence decisions made much earlier in the investment cycle. Projects in locations with strong visitor demand may require greater consideration of whether units should be delivered as conventional residential apartments or structured from the outset around hospitality or serviced accommodation.
Mixed-use developments could face similar questions. Where permanent residents, individually owned investment apartments and commercial premises occupy the same property, the ability to operate short-term accommodation could increasingly become an important element of project governance.
Poland’s proposed reform therefore reaches considerably further than tourism regulation. If enacted broadly in its current direction, it would introduce new building- and location-specific considerations into residential investment decisions.
For investors, the crucial question will no longer be simply how much income a short-term rental apartment can generate. Increasingly, they may also need to assess how secure the right to operate that business model will remain over the life of the investment.
