As with most of Europe, the cheap airlines have brought tourists into Poland, helping to open foreign eyes to the potential property investment opportunity available. There are several airlines currently flying into Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk, and a bulk of visitors come from Ireland, Germany and the UK.

While the enthusiastic rush for property in Poland has caused some dramatically varied predictions for growth, the country is undeniably riding a wave of investment popularity since it joined the EU in 2004.

The Urban Land Institute and industry analysts PriceWaterhouseCooper has announced that 2006 is expected to see Poland achieve the largest rise in residential sales across Europe.

Property availability and standards are patchy in Poland. While the construction boom in areas like the UNESCO-listed Krakow and Warsaw has meant new builds of dubious quality are going up and creating an over-supply, in Gdansk, there are few holiday lets and long-term rental properties to meet the needs of the growing middle classes in Poland. Predictably, areas near airports and inter-rail stops have seen the greatest rise in property prices, both holiday and residential lets.

The average price per square metre of property in Warsaw in 2005 was £830, 18 per cent higher than the year before. The largest growth, 30 per cent, was in Mokotow and the city centre districts.

The economy of Poland is growing, as is public confidence, and in the first quarter of 2006 GDP had grown by 5.2 per cent, no doubt helped by the huge agricultural sector in the country that will see it become the main producer of food in the EU.

Poland is keen to scrap the national currency, the Zlotych, and adopt the Euro. However, it has much economic development to undergo before it will be permitted to join, and a likely date may be as far off as 2013.

Poland factfile:
Timezone: GMT+1–2
Exchange rate: £1=PLN5.7620 (HiFX, July06)
Mortgage availability: Poor
Deposit required: 30%
Agent's fees: NEGOTIABLE legal fees: 7–8%
Capital gains tax: No
Peak letting season: All year
Average daily temps celcius (Jan–Dec):
-3, -2, 2, 7, 13, 15, 17, 16, 13, 8, 2, 0 (Krakow)
Average property prices:
1-bed apart: £40,398 (Warsaw)

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Article published in August 2006