Flood act with the president's signature. Help for residents, companies and local governments

The possibility of buying a flood -threatened real estate, or the introduction of a housing benefit, e.g. for shop owners destroyed by floods – assumes the novel of floods signed by the president. The new regulations also provide for a flood bonus for building repairs.

The Chancellery of the President informed on Wednesday that on May 20, President Andrzej Duda signed an amendment to the Act on special solutions related to the removal of the effects of floods and some other acts.

The Act contains new solutions to support those who suffered as a result of the flood that occurred in September 2024 in southern and western Poland. Introduces the possibility of granting a new benefit, i.e. a one -off housing benefit.

This benefit will be able to be granted to the victims of natural persons who, directly as a result of the flood, suffered the damage consisting in the loss, damage or destruction of the premises to which they had the right to ownership, if in the calendar month preceding the month in which the regulations entered into force, the premises were based on the lease agreement for conducting business activities of the entrepreneur.

The housing benefit will be granted and paid by the Social Insurance Institution.

The Act also introduces a new support instrument – a flood bonus. The investor who owns a multi -family building, which is renovating the building damaged as a result of the flood, will be entitled to a flood bonus if the damage to this building has been estimated at at least 5 percent. its values.

The amount of the flood bonus is to constitute 70 percent. the costs of renovation for multi -family buildings, in which all residential premises are part of the housing resource of the commune or were created using financial support or 50 percent. renovation costs for other multi -family buildings. If the building is entered in the register of monuments or is located in the area entered in the register of monuments, the amount of the flood bonus will constitute 60 percent. renovation costs.

The investor will submit an application for a flood bonus to Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), no longer than a year from the date of damage to the building.

The amendment to the floods' species also assumes that in particularly justified cases, Polish Waters will be able to acquire real estate located in the areas of a special flood threat to the State Treasury, in which the probability of flooding is high and amounts to at least 10 percent. The purchase of these properties is to be voluntary, i.e. with the consent of the property owner, at a market price increased by 20 percent. This principle will not apply to the purchase of real estate in cases where it is necessary to ensure the protection of population and property against flooding by changing their place of residence (transferring to safe places) residents of buildings that are damaged or damaged as a result of the flood and their reconstruction or renovation are underestimated. In such situations, the property will be purchased at the price of a market value in force in the province or commune where the building or premises increased by 20 percent is located.

The new regulations will also enable the payment of the so -called “Add -ons” to people whose applications submitted before the date of entry into force of the amendment were not considered, and the payment of those additions to people who were awarded, but were not paid.

The amendment also introduces the possibility of voluntary purchase of real estate built -up with residential buildings destroyed as a result of floods and intended for demolition. The injured in this commune, which is the owner of the property, may until October 1 this year. apply for an offer to buy this property by the State Treasury, after meeting certain conditions.

The Act also assumes that BGK will resume this year to consider and qualify applications for financial support after the floods submitted in this bank by December 18, 2024 and not qualified until December 31, 2024 (PAP)

AB/ Mick/