Legislative fight against pat-development means less PUM for developer

The draft includes many changes to affect new construction. It’s worth taking a look at the most important ones so that you won’t be surprised when the regulations go into effect.

Among other changes, the distance of a multi-family residential building with more than four stories above ground from the border of the plot will change – it will be a minimum of 5 meters, regardless of whether or not there are windows or doors in the wall. Until now, the distance was a minimum of 3 meters for walls without windows or doors, and 4 meters for walls with windows or doors. Such a change in regulation is intended to ensure “looser construction” and increase user comfort, the draft regulation’s explanatory statement reads. On the other hand, it will limit the usable living space of most of the proposed buildings. This will definitely have a negative impact on the value of individual plots of land, as they will not be able to be developed to the same extent as at the date of the previous valuation.

The changes also concern the rules for allowing “sticking” to other buildings, located at the border of the plot, so that the new building will be allowed to be less than or equal to the length of the existing building. It will be unacceptable for a new building to have a longer wall than an existing one.

It should be mentioned that since the entry into force of the new regulations, for multi-family residential buildings and complexes of such buildings with more than 20 apartments, a children’s playground with certain parameters must be constructed, as well as a recreational area independent of it, which can be used by people with disabilities and those with special needs. For the sake of those using the playgrounds, the minimum size of such a playground will also change, depending on the number of units for which it will be built. The sunlighting of the playground, its fencing and safety requirements were also regulated in detail. There are many more new regulations on the matter. As indicated in the justification, “so far, this type of issue has not been regulated, and this is, in the opinion of the drafters, desirable for the sake of increasing the safety of children and the comfort of children’s playgrounds.”

As part of the regulation, a rule is introduced that a commercial unit in newly designed buildings should have a usable area of not less than 25 sqm. It is possible to build a unit with a smaller area, provided that the unit is located on the first or second above-ground floor of the building and there is direct access to it from outside the building. The regulation is intended to prevent the implementation of the so-called micro-apartments that are too small and do not meet the appropriate requirements for housing.

In addition to those cited above, the changes will also affect acoustic requirements in buildings – better soundproofing of walls and doors is expected to affect occupant comfort. The comfort of apartments is also expected to be affected by the regulation of balconies and loggias, and more specifically, the partitions used in them, which will have to meet appropriate structural requirements from the coming into force of the regulations, among other things to have the right size in relation to the width of the balcony or loggia, or have sufficient light transmission – this is to ensure that an adequate level of privacy is maintained between neighbors.