On September 24, 2023, an amendment to the Act on Spatial Planning and Development, introduced by the Act of July 7, 2023, on Amendments to the Act on Spatial Planning and Development and certain other laws ( Dz.U. 2023 item 1688), came into force.
The law in question introduced a fundamental change in the possibility of obtaining development conditions. The legislator explains this by the need to stop uncontrolled overflow of development caused by the issuance of zoning decisions in peripheral areas, which, according to the legislator, causes the need for subsequent investments by municipal governments related to communications and infrastructure.
According to the amended regulations, decisions on development conditions will be able to be issued only in accordance with the arrangements contained in the municipality’s general plan and in the areas specified in the plan. According to the new solutions, these decisions will be valid for a period of 5 years from the date on which they become legally binding. During this period, the investor will be obliged to obtain a building permit or begin implementation of the planned investment, as the decision will expire after the deadline.
The legislator also introduced the institution of an integrated investment plan (IIP). This is a new planning form, which will now supplement, and from 2026 replace, the resolution on determining the location of a residential development. The IIP will be a special type of local plan, enacted by the municipal council at the request of the investor, after negotiations and the conclusion of an urban planning agreement, specifying the terms and conditions of the investment and the obligations of the parties. IIP will be enacted after a simplified planning procedure, including agreement and opinion on the draft document and public consultations. The essence of this solution is that there are no restrictions on the type and size of investments that can be carried out – they can be residential, service, manufacturing, RES investments, agricultural production or other.