Do you want to buy an allotment garden? Watch out for these upcoming changes to the law

Although the interest in Family Allotment Gardens (Family Allotment Gardens) is no longer as great as during the pandemic, many Poles still decide to purchase them. Meanwhile, there will soon be changes in the law, which, according to allotment gardeners, may be the beginning of the end of many RODs.

Family Allotment Garden (ROD) is a separate area intended for family allotment gardens, consisting of plots and a general area, for common use by allotment holders, equipped with garden infrastructure. Its basic goals include: satisfying the leisure and recreational needs of society by enabling horticultural cultivation, restoring degraded areas to the community and nature, and protecting the environment and nature.

Allotment gardens. How to purchase them?

RODs belong to the Polish Allotment Gardeners' Association (in the past they were allocated by workplaces). Those interested in purchasing them have two options:

submitting an inquiry to the management board of a given garden whether there is any vacant plot that you could use,
buy back the allotment garden.

The disadvantage of the first method is the need to wait a long time for a vacant plot, because usually all of them are occupied. Therefore, you must first sign up on the waiting list and wait patiently for a spot to become available. The second solution is definitely faster in this respect. It is worth emphasizing that the purchase of an allotment garden is an acquisition only in name. In fact, the future allotment holder signs a contract for the use of the garden, so he is not entitled to ownership rights to it. These are still in the hands of the Polish Allotment Owners' Association, which only provides you with a plot of land for use. Ideas of enfranchising allotment holders, i.e. selling their gardens to them and making them full owners, appear regularly. This issue appeared in the last parliamentary campaign, but that was the end of the announcements.

RODs seem to be the optimal solution for people who want to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city, but cannot afford to buy a recreational plot, which requires a much larger financial investment.

More on prices in a moment. Now, however, about the future of ROD, which allotment gardeners are worried about due to recent changes in the law. Last year, the Parliament passed an amendment to the Spatial Planning and Development Act. The act introduces a new planning tool for the entire commune – a general plan. This will be an act of local law with which both local plans and decisions on development conditions will have to comply. This is intended to simplify, speed up and standardize procedures for spatial planning in municipalities. Municipalities have until 2025 to adopt general plans.

General plans of municipalities include, among others: introduction of the so-called planning zones. The regulations provide for the possibility of creating thirteen types of such zones, and allotment gardens are listed in only three of them. The Polish Allotment Gardeners Association warns that “this makes it a real threat that a significant part of the gardens will be subject to decisions opening the possibility of their liquidation already at the initial stage of preparing planning documents.” According to representatives of the institution, the new regulations “open the door to the liquidation of gardens, and it's all over Poland.”

Allotment gardeners tried to block the adoption of the regulations in their current form during work on the act. They sent hundreds of collective speeches and petitions from garden users from all over the country to the Ministry of Development and Technology. However, their voices were not heard.

The Polish Association of Allotment Owners argues that the areas occupied by ROD have been of interest to developers for a long time. If those in power do not introduce the expected changes, blocks of flats will be built instead of plots.

Allotment gardeners demand that RODs be allowed to exist in each of the planned planning zones.

Representatives of the Ministry of Development and Technology argue that allotment gardens are not at risk. – I deny the information that the ministry wants to liquidate allotment gardens. (…) On the contrary. We want to support allotment gardeners and ensure that any changes in spatial policy take into account their needs, argued the deputy head of the ministry, Jacek Tomczak, on Polish Radio a few weeks ago.

What are the ROD prices?

What costs do people interested in purchasing ROD have to take into account? The final price depends on many variables. In large cities and renowned allotment gardens, where interest is particularly high, plot prices can reach several hundred thousand zlotys. In turn, in less attractive locations with difficult access or far from the city center, it is possible to find offers at much lower prices. The key aspect is the fact that the final price includes not only the costs related to the plot itself, but also the investments incurred in its area, which requires potential buyers to carefully analyze offers and available opportunities.

Prices given in advertisements for the sale of ROD plots on popular advertising websites at the beginning of this year were as follows in individual regions: