Polish housing co-ops urge president to veto short-term rental law

Do you live in a co-op building where tourists wheel suitcases down the hall at midnight? A new Polish law was meant to help. Now the housing co-operatives themselves say it won't, and they want the president to stop it.

What happened?

The Związek Rewizyjny Spółdzielni Mieszkaniowych RP (the audit union of Poland's housing co-operatives) has written to President Karol Nawrocki. It asks him not to sign the act regulating short-term rentals.

Their problem is one rule. A co-op can only ban day-by-day apartment rentals in its buildings if more than half of all members entitled to vote back the resolution. The Senate amended the act last Friday, but it left that threshold untouched.

The union's president, Jerzy Jankowski, and his deputy, Tomasz Jórdeczka, argue that the rule violates the Polish constitution.

Why do co-ops say it's unfair?

The first complaint is equality. Owners in housing communities (wspólnoty, where owners manage a building together) can adopt such a ban under the usual rules of the property ownership act. Co-op members get a special, tougher path.

Legal adviser Piotr Pałka says that in all his years of attending general meetings, from a 30,000-member Warsaw co-op to a 500-member one, turnout has never topped 50% of eligible members. In his words, the rule is "dead law". He also says online voting would be too technically difficult and costly.

The second complaint is practicality. Co-ops often manage dozens of buildings. So residents of every building would have to vote on a ban, even where short-term rentals are no problem. Poland has roughly 2 million co-op flats.

The union suggests two alternatives: members decide in the co-op's statute, or the board decides building by building after hearing residents.

What does the ministry say?

The Ministry of Sport and Tourism says a ban seriously interferes with property rights, so it needs strong backing. It earlier resisted such bans, citing opinions, including from the Ombudsman, that they could be unconstitutional.

What's next?

The Sejm (Poland's lower house) passed the bill on 1 October, and the Senate approved it with amendments on 6 November. The union asks the president to veto it or send it to the Constitutional Tribunal, and to back changes that fix the flaws.