The fourth class action lawsuit against developers has been brought to the Warsaw court. Buyers accuse inappropriate square footage and, consequently, inflated prices – reports “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”. As engineers involved in the acceptance of apartments tell Bankier.pl, including the area under partition walls is a massive problem on the Polish primary market.
The fourth class action lawsuit prepared by the Terlecki & Wspólnicy law firm is record-breaking and amounts to PLN 7.6 million. Similarly to the previous ones, the dispute with the developer concerns the incorrect, in the opinion of the buyers, calculation of the usable area of the apartment, or more precisely, including the area under the partition walls.
Including previous lawsuits filed against three developers: Dom Development, Spravia and Victoria Dom, the amount at stake is over PLN 13 million plus interest.
According to “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”, claims of individual clients of the above-mentioned developers range on average from PLN 17,879 to even PLN 234,982. However, the matter is more complicated than it may seem.
The lawsuits concern apartments built on the basis of permits issued before September 2021. Until then, developers were free to choose the method of calculating the usable area. This issue will be finally resolved by the amendment to the Development Act, which entered into force in February this year.
Let us recall that at the end of 2024, an unprecedented final judgment was passed in which the court found the developer guilty of incorrectly calculating the usable area of the apartment.
Although developers often argue that partition walls can be demolished and moved, according to the justification of the judgment, there is a difference between partitions, which can be easily and freely dismantled, and internal walls, the removal of which requires work.
1 sq m that's up to 16 thousand. zloty
As Paweł Paterek, a construction engineer who deals with apartment inspections on a daily basis, notes, incorrect apartment area is one of the most common defects detected during inspections. And although the difference in the actual area of the apartment and that recorded in the notarial deed is usually measured in square centimeters, it sometimes happens that the developer makes an error by even a few square meters.
Looking at the current transaction prices of apartments, the difference of 1 sq m, although unnoticeable to the naked eye, can cost an inattentive buyer on average even more than PLN 16,000. zloty.
– Just a square centimeter of difference means up to PLN 150 in your pocket. However, remember that it works both ways, and the difference may be unfavorable for the buyer, who will gain a few centimeters that he or she will not be able to notice with the naked eye, and will ultimately spend several hundred or even several thousand zlotys more – explains Paterek. – Moreover, the usable area consistent with reality must be included in the land and mortgage register. If an incorrect value is entered, the buyer may face problems related to the incorrect assessment of real estate tax and the subsequent possible sale of the premises – he points out.
MKZ
