Financing Housing Support Programs in Poland in the Light of National Housing Resources

Abstract

The paper discusses the subject of subsidising residential development in Poland by the state, with respect to expenditures incurred on various programs that support the development of housing resources. The scope of the analysis includes specification of the size and type of national housing resources, the identification of housing support programs in Poland and their financing. In Poland, numerous programs supporting the construction or purchase of housing have been introduced since the political transformation that took place in the 1990s. They were usually replaced by new ones after several years of functioning, and the previous concepts were abandoned. This was quite often caused by excessive popularity and thus high financial encumbrances borne by the State Treasury. The problem is rather difficult, as private housing is dominant in Poland and citizens generally aim to purchase their own housing. This is rather typical for Polish mentality and tradition. All the proposals enjoyed great interest among Polish people. The government is currently working on another proposed program to support the purchase of apartments in small towns under the "Mieszkanie Plus" ("Home Plus") program. Key words: housing programs, residential development, state support in purchasing homes.