ABSTRACT

Poland comes last in Europe in terms of housing rates. At present there are only 348.5 apartments per one thousand inhabitants (384.9 in cities and 291.7 in the countryside), which means that an average of 2.87 persons live together in one apartment and the average amount of space per person is 24.6 square meters. This housing shortage is one of the country's most important social and economic problem, which is partly rooted in the pre-transition period (shortage of dwellings, low standards of old stock) and partly in a lack of efficient housing policy after 1989.