If you think of moving out from the city to the countryside, you may wonder where you could live. Options are quite simple and nearly the same as in the city.

Option 1. Rent A Flat

Although it is not that common that you find a flat to rent in the countryside, it does happen that there are smaller mulifamily buildings in the countryside. These are not big blocks like in the cities, but buldings where you have 3-4 flats. Often you need to take care of the heating and hot water on your own, by using the indepenedent stove, buy coal or wood for it. It may be a bit difficult for someone who is used to the comfort of living in the city, where everything is delivered and you just pay the bills. Although such option may be often payed back by the access to private garden just next to the building and possibility to keep your own chicken in the outbuildings. It is definitely cheaper than flat in the city.

Option 2. Rent A House

You may find the offers on olx.pl from private owners who have their houses or part of them for rent. It gives you a lot of space for your own use and more privacy than in a flat. Before you sign the contract ask what are the means of heating/warm water production and what are the costs of it. If this is coal, ask how many tons of coal the stove take for a heating season and check the current price of it as it may change from year to year. Sometimes the houses for rent are old and may need quite a lot of heating to obtain the comfort. It is safer to rent a new house but surely it will be more expensive. The prices of rental depend on the area – the closer to the city, the bigger will be the price. Often the owners want a deposit equal to a few months rent, but it is not a rule. If you are afraid, you may hire a real-estate agent to arrange the rental for you. It will cost but it may save you some nerves.

Option 3. Buy A House

If you tried it during rental period and decided to move to the countryside for good, you may buy a house. For sure it will be cheaper than in the city or town. You will usually have a few options: buy an old house for renovation, which is much cheaper but requires a lot of work for longer time, and money – but you may live in it already, if you are patient and don’t care that it’s not perfect from day one. Such old houses have often a very nice character and climate, which you may feel once you enter it. There are many options to rearrange the space according to your needs. Make sure you make a proper constuction expertise before you decide, as some renovations are very time and cash-consuming (i.e.roof). The only thing I would not reccomend is a house which falls under conservator jurisdiction. To renovate such house may ruin your budget and nerves.

Other option is to buy a newer generation house which only needs a refreshment. That would be houses 10-20 years old. It could be easier to handle some works on your own in such a building.

Sometimes you may find a brand new houses in the countryside which people sell due to multiple reasons. It may pose bigger initial cost but for sure it will generate less costs in the future. Sometimes you may find houses under construction, in different level of finish up. It is worth taking such an offer under consideration as you got a new house but without all the stress that the construction process brings. Before decision check the law status of the place, find out what is needed to obtain the usage permit, upon what conditions you may take over the construction permit upon yourself. For example if you are not a farmer, and the house is built on a farm land (działka zagrodowa), you may need to follow extra regualtions related to “un-farming” the plot, which generates the costs and time-loss. If you decide to buy a house under construction, meet with the construction manager who should tell you what is required to finish up the investment.

Option 4. Build A House

It is the option for those who have strong character and like challenges, because the housing construction in Poland is quite a complex and stressfull process, but I do know foreigners who don’t even speak Polish and who decided for this option. The construction process as such is subject to my other articles.

Before you decide on this option, be aware of the different types of plots which you may meet in Poland outside the city. You may read about them here.

Definitely this is an option in case when you could not find an offer of ready house for an excessive time or if your spouse inherited the land and you got it for free. Depending on the type of land, the process of preparation will look a bit different.

Each house requires a project. There are a number of project offices and country-wide companies which offer a ready projects from their catalogue. It may seem a cheaper option, but it forces you to compromises if the house’s architecture does not meet your expectations. Here are some head-ups in this matter: 1. Do not get suggested by the cost of the house given in the catalogue – often these costs are far from reality just to lure you with a vision of cheap and fast constuction. 2. Be aware that even the project from a catalogue must go through a local architect’s hands, must be adapted to your plot and this is the architect who applies for the construction permit in your behalf – it also generates costs. 3. Bear in mind that major amendmends to the project will cost you a lot – so try to choose the projct which suits you most and requires least redoing.

After obtaining a construction permit, you will need to find a constructions manager. That is an engineer who will be your support during the constructions and who must have proper permits for the role. Often he/she may recommend you the contractors for the actual work.

In Poland there are in general 2 types of handling the house constructions: DIY system (system gospodarczy) and Hire system (system zlecony). DIY does not neccessary mean you build your house with your own hand, but of course you may, if you can. It also means that for each stage of the work you hire separate contractors. I used this way and it was very stressfull and it is a myth that it is cheaper.

Hire system is when you hire one firm as a contractor from start to end. Usually the total cost at the begining may be higher but from my own experience, I can assure you that the DIY did not save me any cash, and it ruined my nerves.

Another option would be buying a house from a developer – it does happen that the developers build new estates in the villages especially those located near towns or cities. It could be a good option if you don’t want a big garden and don’t have time to watch the construction process closely.

Option 5. Build or Buy a Farm

According to Polish law in order to buy a farm you must be a farmer. How to become a farmer in Poland you can read here.

Buying a farm means that you own not only a house but also the outbuildings, like barn or cowshed often with a piece of farm land attached to it. The buildings are located on a farming land, not a housing land which anyone can buy. About different types of plots in the Polish countryside you may read here.

Usually buying a farm with a small piece of land (up to 1 ha (1 ha=10 000 sq m) is cheaper than buying a house due to fact that not everyone is allowed to buy it. I mean here the old farms, not a modern prosperous farms which generate huge income – these are expensive because they are in fact a businneses.

Worth mentioning that any farm land will have smaller tax than a standard house. Also in farms you usually have more possibilities to obtain the independence from the system: grow your own food, have your own water, eggs, electricity. For sure it is worth considering becoming a farmer, as it brings more benefits like making a family business from the farm.