Government shuts down housing assistance programme

A housing assistance programme, the so-called Mieszkanie Plus, will be wound up, Poland's development and technology minister said on Wednesday, because it “has not worked out”.

People renting flats under the programme will be able to buy their homes, Waldemar Buda added.

A flagship government programme launched in 2016, Mieszkanie Plus was aimed at people whose income was too high to receive council housing, but at the same time they lacked the means to buy.

Under the programme, public land would be used to build apartments for rent, and those renting the properties would have a chance to buy their homes at preferential rates.

It was hoped that the programme would stimulate the construction of 100,000 apartments, but this failed to happen with the Development and Technology Ministry putting the number of completed housing units at around 19,000 at the end of last year.

Buda said "we are not continuing Mieszkanie Plus, because it has not worked out."

He added that he will propose measures that will allow the beneficiaries of the programme to purchase flats at preferential prices.