Short-term rental with permits. Will the CJEU judgment affect the possibility of making apartments available to tourists for holidays in Poland?

On September 22, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, sitting in the Grand Chamber, issued a judgment according to which EU Member States can set up a permit system for people who want to rent their accommodation to tourists.

What does it mean?

In practice, this means that each of the Member States of the European Union can autonomously introduce regulations regarding the principles of providing access to the so-called holiday apartments for temporary stays for travelers who do not check-in at the rented premises.

The aim of such regulations would be to limit the number of service providers for the purposes of implementing the housing policy adopted by a given Member State and to counteract the deficit of housing for traditional long-term rental.

There is no legal definition of a short-term rental

The concept of "short-term rental" is unknown to Polish legislation. The regulations in force do not precisely regulate the principles of making housing available to tourists. For such a lease, general rental regulations apply, mainly contained in the Civil Code. This means a great freedom in shaping the rental rules by the landlords themselves, but also limits the possibilities of pursuing rights by travelers.

Consumer risk

Such status quo, over the years, it has led to a kind of elimination of the rental market from any control. The authorities do not have the tools to exercise proper supervision over this market segment, which ultimately results in full freedom, not to say - the willfulness of property owners in the area of making their apartments available for the day.

This often leads to abuses on the part of dishonest landlords and is often associated with risk on the part of tenants. It often happens that the real estate offered is completely virtual, which the unaware tourist learns only after arriving at the place. A significant part of the facilities offered mainly on foreign portals acting as intermediaries in transactions do not meet even the minimum sanitary or fire protection requirements.

The facilities available on the TwójJurata.pl website are thoroughly verified by us, both in terms of standard and safety of use.

Unequal competition

In recent years short-term rental began to dominate the real estate market, not only in holiday resorts. Owners of flats and apartments often decide to make their premises available to clients in this form, because the revenues obtained from rents calculated per day are often much higher than in the case of long-term rental contracts.

The desire for easy profit often overshadows common sense. The owners, focused on quick and high profit, often forget about the need to report the facility to the appropriate records, do not comply with the basic rules of hygiene, do not settle climate fees, do not care about maintaining the equipment in a proper technical condition.

Such behavior works to the detriment of the entire rental market, but most of all honest and reliable landlords, operators and hoteliers who focus their full attention on ensuring that the premises they provide are unreserved and that guests feel at home in them. .

The position of the Polish government

The Polish government was a participant in the proceedings in which the said judgment was handed down. Although the Ministry of Development has long been postulating a desire to regulate this issue, it is not known when and whether legislative work will begin at all, which could lead to the enactment of regulations introducing equal and safe rules on the short-term rental market.

We hope it will happen soon. We, as property manager in the city of Jurata we are ready for changes 🙂 

Own article, protected by copyright.

Source: Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the composition of the Grand Chamber of September 22, 2020,

sign. C-724/18 and C-727/18 (joined cases)