Construction of a holiday house

Due to an outbreak of a COVID-19 epidemic, it is easy to notice some changes in preferences of the housing market participants in Poland. Obligatory lock-down resulted in increased popularity of single-family houses, as well as construction and recreation plots. One of the possible option of ’escaping‘ from the city and the flat, where all inhabitants are forced to spend 24 hours a day, is a purchase of a recreation plot and construction of a small holiday house.

According to art. 29 of the act on construction law, in case of detached, single-storied, individual recreation building intended to be used for recreation purposes, of a covered area not exceeding 35 sqm (calculated along the contour of the outer walls), building permit is not applicable – it requires only a notification. What is important, number of such buildings may not exceed one for every 500 sqm of the plot’s area. Subject to the law provisions, holiday houses constructed basing on a notification may not have attics, but entresols, which are not full storeys.

EXEMPLARY VISUALISATION OF A HOLIDAY HOUSE OF A FLOOR AREA UP TO 35 SQM

source: extradom.pl

Construction of a house, which is built under a notification, differs from construction of a house basing on a building permit. At first step, all required documents are actually the same as they are required in case of regular house construction. But in case of small houses up to 35 sqm of a covered area, procedures are simplified, no site manager is necessary and there is no need to purchase a professional architectural design.

Where a holiday house may be built?

When looking for a recreation plot, attention should be given to a spatial plan or a decision on land development conditions for a particular plot. Those documents determine the parameters of buildings, which may potentially be constructed. The best choice is a building plot (designated for single-family constructions) or recreation plots. As a holiday house is reserved for seasonal use, the full infrastructure is not obligatory.

All conditions related to location of the building relative to the plot’s borders must be kept, just like in case of a regular detached house, which are:

• distance from the wall with windows and doors to the plot’s border – min. 4 meters,
• distance from the wall with no windows and doors to the plot’s border – min. 3 meters,
• in particular cases it is allowed to locate the house in the proximity of 1.5 meter from the plot’s border, provided that a spatial plan or a decision on land development allows for this,
• in case of a plot located near a forest, greater distance from the border of the wood may be requested.

Notification of a construction

Before starting a construction of a holiday house of a covered area up to 35 sqm, a notification must be submitted to the district of city authorities. Such notification should be completed at an application form available at the authority’s offices or online at the BIP (Public Information Bulletin) website. The notification should include information on kind, scope and description of implementation of construction works, as well as the date of construction start. The construction may be started, if within 21 days from the date of the notification delivery (or when the investor was obliged to submit some additional information – within 21 days from the deadline for supplementing the notification or from the date of submitting the requested information) the district of city authorities did not object in form of a decision on obligatory construction permit.

Documents necessary for notification of a construction:

• a statement on the right to the real estate;
• sketches or drawings of the house of a covered area up to 35 sqm (building and façade layouts including dimensions and its position on the plot – a simplified documentation including amateur drawings is sufficient;
• an extract from the local spatial plan (in case of lack of such plan – a decision on land development conditions);
• required permits and opinions.

What type of house to choose?

Low construction costs are the argument for choosing a small house. Particular attention should be paid to a design and technology used for construction, when construction costs are one of the key factors of the investment. Simple and compact body of the building covered with a gable roof is the easiest and the cheapest construction. Installation costs also influence the total cost of the undertaking. The layout of the premises should be functional, technical and sanitary spaces should be located as near as possible in order to minimise the length of necessary pipes.

Klaudia Jastrzębska
AMRON III Development Specialist, GIS Analyst