Perpetual Usufruct
A right to use land owned by the State Treasury or a local government unit for a fixed term (typically 99 years) in exchange for an annual fee — since 2019, land built up for residential use has been converted by operation of law into full ownership.
Сфера дії: Польща.
Визначення
Perpetual usufruct (użytkowanie wieczyste) is governed by Article 232 and following of the Polish Civil Code and by the Act on Real Estate Management. The term is typically 99 years (a minimum of 40 years in special cases), extendable; the usufructuary pays an initial fee plus an annual fee, the amount of which the land's owner may periodically update.
A building erected on land held under perpetual usufruct is owned separately from the land by the usufructuary — selling the building transfers the perpetual usufruct right to the land along with it.
The Act of 20 July 2018 converted, by operation of law as of 1 January 2019, perpetual usufruct of land built up with residential buildings into ownership of that land — building owners became owners of the underlying plot, paying a transformation fee over 20 years (with the option of a one-time discounted lump-sum payment).
Приклади
The owner of a single-family house built on municipally-owned land pays an annual perpetual usufruct fee every year, even though the building itself is their separate property.
Under the 2019 transformation act, a resident of a block of flats whose land was held under perpetual usufruct automatically became the owner of the plot, and pays a transformation fee over the following 20 years.
A company operating on land held under perpetual usufruct negotiates with the State Treasury to extend the term before it expires.
Як це впливає на купівлю та продаж
For most residential properties in Poland, perpetual usufruct has already been converted into full ownership under the 2019 act, so today it mainly applies to commercial or industrial land, or to land built up after the cutoff date for that conversion. A buyer of a property still held under perpetual usufruct should check the annual fee amount and the remaining term of the right, since both affect the property's real value and ongoing carrying costs.
