Finding somewhere to live in Krakow

Umowa najmu okazjonalnego

This is the dominant contract form for a private flat, and it can only be used by an individual owner who is not in the business of letting. It must be a fixed term of no more than ten years. The notarial deed is yours to obtain and yours to pay for, and the statute caps the notary's fee for it at one tenth of the minimum wage, which is 480.60 zł while the minimum wage stands at 4,806.00 zł. The landlord may insist that the third party's consent statement carries a notarised signature, so ask early whether they will.

• Three attachments: the notarial submission to enforcement, the alternative dwelling, the consent of that dwelling's owner.
• If you lose the right to the alternative dwelling, you have 21 days to name another and supply a fresh consent statement.
• Fail to substitute it and the landlord can end the lease on as little as seven days' notice.

If the landlord is a company

Where the counterparty is a company, or an individual letting as a business, the form is najem instytucjonalny instead. It also runs on a notarial submission to enforcement, but in place of the alternative dwelling you acknowledge that no social housing or temporary accommodation will be available to you on eviction. The deposit under this form is capped at six months' rent.

The deposit, and what the statute actually gives you

There is no escrow scheme and the money sits with the landlord, but the Tenants' Rights Act supplies both a ceiling and a deadline. The ceiling is twelve months' rent on an ordinary lease and six months' rent on a najem okazjonalny or instytucjonalny; the deadline is return within one month of the flat being vacated, less the landlord's deductions. The market asks far less than those ceilings, so a demand anywhere near them is a reason to walk. What decides the deductions is the protokół zdawczo-odbiorczy, so read the meters and photograph the flat while the landlord is standing there.

• Get the handover protocol signed by both sides, with meter readings and existing damage listed.
• Keep the contract's return terms and the protocol together; they are what you will argue from.

The filing that keeps the contract honest

The landlord must report a najem okazjonalny to the head of their local tax office within 14 days of the tenancy starting, and must show you proof of that filing if you ask for it. If they never file it, the fast-track eviction machinery written into the contract does not apply and the tenancy falls back under ordinary tenant protection. Asking for the confirmation is a legitimate request and a fair test of who you are dealing with.

• The lease is itself accepted as proof of title when you register your address, and the owner does not have to attend.
• A landlord who says registration is “not allowed” in the flat is not stating a legal rule.

Rent rises, charges and short-let stock

Under a najem okazjonalny the landlord may charge rent plus the charges outside their own control, meaning energy, gas, water, sewage and refuse, unless the contract says otherwise. Rent can be raised only on the terms written into the contract, because the statutory rent-increase protections do not attach to this form. Read that clause before you sign, because it is the whole of your protection. Separately, a flat let for short tourist stays in a building serving tourist purposes is not a dwelling under the Act at all, which matters in Stare Miasto and Kazimierz where a good deal of the furnished stock is really short-let.

In order

1. 1Establish whether the owner is a private individual (najem okazjonalny) or a company (najem instytucjonalny) — it changes what you must produce.
2. 2Ask a friend or relative early whether they will name their home as your alternative dwelling and sign the consent statement.
3. 3In Stare Miasto and Kazimierz, ask outright whether the flat is short-let stock, because the tenant-protection framework may not attach to it.
4. 4Read the rent-increase clause and the list of charges before agreeing anything.
5. 5Check the deposit against the statutory cap and check the contract's return terms.
6. 6Book the notary appointment and budget no more than 480.60 zł for the declaration.
7. 7Sign the handover protocol with meter readings and photographs on the same day.
8. 8Ask the landlord for proof they filed the contract with the tax office within 14 days.
9. 9Register your address at the gmina office — within four days of moving in if you are not an EU, EFTA or Swiss national, within 30 if you are.