Private Rented Sector (PRS) – characteristics and intended use classification in spatial planning acts

Abstract

The aim of this study was to raise and present issues related to the characteristics of lease agreements concluded on the Polish private rental market, as well as to try correctly qualify private rental sector investments from the perspective of the spatial planning acts. In the coming years, following the trends of Western Europe, this market should gain noticeable importance also in Poland, while its importance is often overlooked or underestimated. The following article presents the Polish private rental sector itself, identifies the features and assumptions significant to this investment model, and examines the institutional lease agreement as a separate lease relationship.Moreover, in case of the private rental sector, there is a practical issue of qualifying these investments under the spatial planning acts. The following article attempts to present the ambiguous status of such projects and to decide whether, from the spatial planning perspective, these projects are closer to residential or service zoning purpose. In the face of clear interpretation discrepancies with regard to the qualification of private rental sector investments, it is necessary to set clearer qualification limits for these types of investment, and thus clear qualification limits for these investments in relation to the spatial planning acts. Failure to do so will lead to a negative increase in the role of construing the existing spatial planning regulations by entities involved in individual investment processes, potentially leading to further accumulation of discrepancies.