Why it may be difficult for foreigners to rent an apartment in Poland
Finding housing in Poland in big cities can be a challenge for many foreigners. Let me tell you about my personal experience when I helped my sister and her husband find an apartment, who moved from Ukraine after the war started. My sister and her husband work in IT, so from a financial point of view, they could rent an apartment right after they arrived. As for me, I have been living in Poland for more than 10 years, speak Polish fluently without an accent, and personally wrote and called the apartment owners who posted the ads. However, even working together, I did not expect that renting an apartment in Wroclaw would be so problematic. I think the situation will be similar in all major Polish cities. I have described our interesting experience, conclusions and valuable information in today’s article. Let me remind you that as of now, the situation is much better and it may not be so difficult to rent a house anymore.
The situation on the rental market in Poland
Large cities
There are a lot of apartments for rent, but there are also a lot of people who want to rent this housing. Demand exceeds supply, especially in August-September, when students start looking for housing. These are the worst months for finding accommodation in Poland. However, in other months the market is also active and oversaturated with demand. The large number of Ukrainians in Poland before the war also made it almost impossible to find an apartment quickly (even an expensive one). Since the beginning of the war started by Russia in Ukraine, the situation on the real estate rental market in Poland has become even more dramatic.
Most Ukrainians left for the largest Polish cities. This in itself led to an apartment boom. Many refugee Ukrainians tried to rent an apartment, but after signing the contract, they decided to go somewhere else as refugees – to Germany, France, Canada, etc. These people often broke the contract a few days or weeks after signing it, and sometimes disappeared without warning the owners. There were many such cases. Polish homeowners were dissatisfied, because most of them want to rent their homes for a long period of time – at least a year – and therefore are looking for more reliable tenants. Landlords have begun to demand an employment contract from Ukrainians who want to rent their homes. As a rule, the requirement is that the employment contract be signed either for a year or for an unlimited period.
In addition, Poland has recently been actively recruiting workers from Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India) and South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico). All of these foreigners also need housing, and Poles are increasingly renting it out to various foreigners, not just Ukrainians. As you can see, several negative factors have coincided into one, and it has become even more difficult to rent housing in large Polish cities. So maybe the situation is better in small towns?
Small towns
Even before the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, a large number of Ukrainians worked in small towns in Poland, and there were few apartment buildings. That’s why prices were often higher than in big cities. There were many people who wanted to rent a house, but few apartments. Despite the fact that five-story buildings, cottage towns, and residences are being built in almost every small town and city in Poland, there is still a shortage of housing. After the outbreak of the war, a huge number of Ukrainians rushed to Poland to visit their relatives. Therefore, in small towns there were several times more Ukrainians than before. For example, the town of Kempno, located 80 kilometers from Wroclaw, has a population of 14 thousand. Officially, more than 4,000 Ukrainians lived there before the war. After the outbreak of the war, there were already 30 thousand Ukrainians in the Kempno district. There are hundreds of small towns like this in Poland.
Having money is not the most important thing
Even if you have enough money, there is no guarantee that you will be able to rent an apartment. You also need to please the owner, but we’ll talk about that later. Now let’s talk about how much money you need to have with you to rent an apartment in Poland. So, on average, renting a one-bedroom apartment in a big city costs 2300 PLN per month. In addition, you also need to add to this amount the payment of utilities (on average 200-300 PLN per month) and the so-called chynsh within 200-400 PLN. Sometimes you can find apartments without chinsh, but very rarely. That is, the monthly payment will be approximately PLN 2800-3200 per month for such an apartment. For the first month, you also need to pay the so-called caution (deposit). As a rule, it is one monthly payment plus all additional payments (utilities and chinsh).
That is, for the first month you will need to pay 2800-3200 PLN for such an apartment and the same amount of caution, which is already 5600-6400 PLN for the first month. At the time of writing, at the average exchange rate of 8.5 UAH per 1 PLN, this cost in terms of hryvnias is 47600-54400 UAH. Important : The prices are accurate if you are looking for an apartment yourself, without agencies. If you use the services of a real estate agency broker, you should add one monthly payment to the monthly fee and the commission. That is, 2800+2800+2800= 8400 zlotys (71400 UAH) or 3200+2300+3200= 9600 zlotys (81600 UAH). And as the subtitle says, even if you have this money, it doesn’t mean anything.
Huge auditions. You don’t choose an apartment, the owner chooses you
There is a very large middle class in Poland, so many people here earn quite decent money. That is, even a high salary will not surprise anyone.
On the contrary, it is very surprising for an average foreigner from a poor country to notice that when you arrange to view an apartment, it is the owner who chooses whether he wants to see you as a tenant. That is, it’s like choosing a product in a store, bringing it to the checkout, and the seller saying: “I’ll think about whether to sell you this Parmesan cheese, because I like that girl over there better, I’ll probably sell it to her, but if she doesn’t want to buy it, I’ll call you back.” That’s exactly what they do. Most apartment owners say they will call you back and then almost never do. If you ask them that you are urgent about finding an apartment, at best they will call you or send you a text the next day that the apartment has already been rented.
The auditions are really huge. It looks something like this: everyone has 10-15 minutes to look at the apartment, meet the owner, and make a good impression on him, confirmed by the relevant documents. Before you, several people have already looked at this apartment every 15 minutes, and after you, there will be several more people who want to see it. In total, this is 10-20 people every day. In order for you to get a chance to rent this apartment, you need to have luck, in addition to money, documents, and a pleasant appearance.
By the way, you may not like this apartment very much, but after 2-3 weeks of such a daily exhausting rhythm of calls, arrangements, meetings and searching for an apartment somewhere between work and a “run” to the supermarket, you will already agree to any apartment if only you can rent it. During the first apartment inspections, my “competitors” were a Polish IT guy from Opole who wanted to move to Wroclaw and a Polish girl who was renting her own apartment in a remote area of Wroclaw but wanted to move closer to the center. Why I emphasize the word “Pole” is explained in the text below.
An official employment contract in Poland is the basis for renting an apartment
My sister’s husband earns a very competitive salary even by Polish standards. He is an IT specialist and can work completely remotely from anywhere in the world with Internet access. However, most Polish landlords refused to accept an agreement with an American firm as proof of solvency, and wanted a Polish employment contract. One owner explained this by saying that without a non-Polish employment contract, a person could leave for another country at any time, and he would be forced to look for new tenants. As for me, this is total nonsense, but it is reality. The landlord wants stability and a Polish labor contract. For him, this is tantamount to a person’s intention to live and work in this city. Most employed Poles have an umowa o pracę employment contract, so it is theoretically easier for them to rent a house, even if your real income is higher or much higher than theirs.
In Poland, homeowners rent out their properties officially and register with the city council as persons conducting such business and pay taxes. They need to submit documents proving that the person who rents from them earns enough to cover other needs (food, clothing, transportation, leisure, etc.) in addition to rent. This should be at least half of the official salary, and preferably a third. For example, if you rent an apartment for 2700 PLN, your salary should be 5400 PLN. This is not official information, but it is taken from experience and you should receive at least 4500 PLN net to have a chance to rent such an apartment. Confirmation of your solvency is an employment contract with your employer, preferably a Polish one.
You should not wave a wad of money in front of the landlord. This does not impress Poles. On the contrary, they then doubt where you got the money from. Most want everything to be done officially, according to the law. You will make monthly payments for the apartment by bank transfer, from account to account, not in cash. So if you don’t have a card in a Polish bank yet, open one. If you have cash, you will need to go to an ATM (in Poland, you can not only withdraw money from an ATM, but also deposit it into an account), deposit Polish zlotys into the account, and transfer the rent to the landlord every month.
In some cases, tenants agree to rent an apartment without an employment contract, but the amount of the deposit they want is simply sky-high. For example, in the case of my friend, the owner rented an apartment for 3000 PLN per month and wanted 4 times the amount of the deposit without a Polish employment contract! Imagine that! 12000 zlotys for the first month alone, and in case of non-compliance with the terms of the contract or your premature termination of the contract for various reasons, he would not return this money.
Another apartment owner offered to sign the lease agreement for me, since I have an official employment contract, and to include my sister’s husband in the agreement as a person who actually lives in the apartment and has the right to live there. However, the owner of the other apartment categorically rejected this option and demanded only a Polish employment contract. Finally, one of the landlords agreed to accept an employment contract in English as proof of financial stability, but it had to be accompanied by an employer’s statement of salary for the last six months, which had to be in English (or translated into Polish). The latter option became possible only because the owner has a good command of English, as he used to live in the UK. Therefore, in the next section, we will talk about the language barrier, but there is an even more formidable obstacle, which I will describe at the end of the article.
Do you need to know Polish to rent an apartment in Poland?
Knowledge of Polish is not always necessary to rent an apartment in Poland, but from my personal observations, it increases the chance of finding an apartment by 80%. First of all, communication. When you find a suitable ad, you need to write to the owner and then call, or he will call you. If you don’t speak Polish yourself, ask your friends who know Polish and have enough time and desire to help you. Speaking English also greatly increases your chances of finding an apartment on your own.
Secondly, language is the first impression of you. Language can express your creative approach to finding a place to live. Homeowners are so “pampered” nowadays that you need to stand out from the crowd to attract attention and get that apartment. To help my sister and her husband, I tried to get rid of the primary negative stereotype of Ukrainians that many Poles have of them. To do this, I first wrote a message briefly describing the situation, why they moved, emphasizing the field in which they work and the absence of financial problems. Only then did I talk to the homeowner.
Most often, the owners themselves called me back and said that I had written so interestingly that they already had a clear picture and wanted to talk. In the conversation, I again (immodestly ????) demonstrated my high level of Polish and arranged a meeting. During the meeting with some apartment owners, my sister’s husband spoke to them personally in English (and I was present and helped as an interpreter if necessary), and often I was both an interpreter and a kind of guarantor, a close relative, that they could contact me if they did not understand something already in the process of renting an apartment.
Confirmation from another Pole that if you are evicted from this apartment for some reason, he will be able to accommodate you in his apartment, to which he has the right of ownership.
This is the most difficult to understand and the most unrealistic and shitty point, because of which not only most Ukrainians, but also most other foreigners will not be able to rent a house in Poland. I will continue to explain in non-legal language, so please excuse any mistakes, but I will convey the essence quite accurately.
In Poland, according to the law, if you are a person under the care of Poland and have fled from military aggression, you have certain rights. If you rent an apartment, but at a certain time you have financial difficulties and cannot pay for this apartment, the owner cannot always evict you, even if you do not pay him. The same applies to single mothers living with small children, especially in winter.
To be on the safe side, owners of Polish apartments often require a notarized confirmation when renting them to you that a certain person, a Polish citizen who owns his/her home, undertakes to take you in if you fail to pay the rent or for other reasons that may cause you to be evicted from the rented apartment.
In fact, this is a guarantee that in case of any problems with you, the landlord can evict you and you will not be able to file any claims against him. Such a guarantee can be written by a Polish citizen who owns his or her own housing. As a rule, most foreigners do not have such good Polish acquaintances who would be willing to issue such a guarantee for you. Because good acquaintances are one thing, and legal obligations are another.
For most Ukrainians who have come to Poland for the first time, it is the requirement of this “piece of paper” that becomes the main problem in trying to rent an apartment. Even if all other points are perfectly done, finances are perfect, but having no friends in Poland, this point makes it impossible to rent a house from many owners. However, do not despair, because there are quite a few ads where such certificates are not required. From my personal experience, 50-60% of apartment owners either in the ad or during the conversation wanted this certificate.
It’s good to have someone to stay with in Poland while looking for a place to live, as well as a car
Searching for housing in Poland on your own is a long process. In the best case scenario, it lasts only a week, and sometimes even less than a month. During this time, you need to live somewhere and renting a hotel will be extremely expensive, and a hostel is not suitable for everyone and will not be too cheap either.
In addition, you will need to make an appointment with the landlord to see a possible future apartment. To do this, you can use public transport, but you will have to travel to different places and districts of the city, often with transfers. (We describe how to easily travel around unfamiliar Polish cities using the mobile application Jak.Dojade here). A good, but not always affordable option is to go to see apartments in your own car (or ask someone you know) or call a taxi like Uber or Bolt.
You should not ask someone to remotely find you a place to live in Poland if you are still in your home country
First of all, apartments in Poland are selling like delicious grandma’s pies. If your friend who is in Poland calls today and asks if an apartment is available and is told yes, then in a few hours, let alone days, it may already be rented. You won’t have time to leave your country that quickly. My personal record in my experience is that I rented an apartment in 15 minutes. I arrived, looked at the apartment, sent photos and videos to my family in Ukraine who were interested in it. At the same time, I had already left the apartment and went about my business. My family called me 15 minutes later and said they agreed, and I immediately called the owner, but the apartment was rented to the next people who looked at it after me, because they didn’t think twice. And this is true, because the ad was removed from olx.pl.
Secondly, only personal presence. Most owners want to see the people who will be living in their apartment, not their friend or relative who is looking for a place for them. They are not only interested in evaluating future tenants, but also in understanding that they like the apartment and will not terminate the contract in a few days.
Translation of the lease agreement
An important aspect is the translation of the lease agreement into a language that the tenant understands. This is not the most difficult point among all the others, but it is also important. Simply put, according to Polish law, you must understand what you are signing. The Polish rental agreement must be duplicated in a language that the tenant can understand. As a rule, the landlord (apartment owner) often takes care of this himself or already has a copy of the agreement in Polish and a foreign language prepared in advance.
In the case of my relatives, the apartment owner did not have such an agreement in Ukrainian. Since, by a happy coincidence, I not only have a degree in translation, but am also a practicing translator, I translated the contract myself to speed up the process as much as possible. After putting all the pieces together, my family finally rented an apartment. Although there were many more small nuances, I’m not describing them all here, because this is not an article, but a mini-book. The main points are briefly summarized below.
To summarize
Renting a good apartment in Poland is not easy, but it is possible. It is worth taking into account the difficulties, but do not give up and look for accommodation with a positive attitude. The main aspects you should pay attention to are: the size of the city in which you are looking for accommodation, the availability of a Polish employment contract, the availability of a notarized guarantee from a Polish citizen, the availability of finances, and knowledge of Polish/English. Depending on the landlord, someone will want you to have all of them, and someone will be satisfied with just signing a contract and making timely payments from you.
