Category: Finance, Mortgages.
At the end of the Second World War thousands had been made. homeless by the large scale destruction of cities such as.
Many, either owned land, however or had relatives. with land. Warsaw. Wood was abundant and building a small house was. a quick and well understood task. This was a controversial policy. Those that could did, but. those who were completely destitute were housed in the. surviving period properties of city and town centres. No one wanted the damp, poorly insulated, drafty, difficult to heat apartments with. antiquated plumbing and outside toilets.
This thinly spread population however created issues for. They might be. pretty to walk past but in a country with sub zero winters. they were not a desirable residence. Stalin s industrialisation, cities had to have more. dwellings and, as with much of Europe, these were to be. built out of the revolutionary new material- concrete. Families pooled savings and worked overtime to generate the. deposits required to secure the new apartments in the grey, bland blocks. But. they were not to be for the homeless or unemployed, they. were for the workers who would need to pay for them and they. were not going to come cheap. Waiting lists were massive and, even in 1979. when 279, 000 dwellings were completed, demand far. outstripped supply.
The appeal was a practical one. Doctors and lawyers lived alongside. factory workers and nurses in unprecedented equality. The homes were double. glazed, inside toilets, had radiators, hot and cold running. water, smaller rooms that were cheaper to heat, large. communal gardens, ample parking, playgrounds for children. and wide pavements and roads. For the latter a monthly payment was required. to gradually buy out the housing association s share. Some were bought outright but. high prices meant the majority were co- owned with a housing. association. Needless to say, a home in, against this backdrop one of. these concrete blocks were a source of immense pride and. both the apartments and the blocks were well cared for by. their owners.
Britain, France or Germany but in reality they were a world. apart. They looked like the social estates of Great. Better built and better managed they stood the test. of time while their Western counterparts were ripped apart. by council tenants who had no vested interest in the place. where they lived. They get off the plane and into a taxi which. drives them past these huge estates They think, "That s just. like a council estate I know" and they steer clear of them. Where foreign journalists have gone wrong is obvious when. you know. Estate agents and developers want to show off the country s. progress rather than its communist past and as hosts and. guides to the journalists they also steer clear of them. New wealth and a much lower population density. than many other European countries has led to unheard of. opportunities and buying land on which to build a house has. become a realistic ambition for hundreds of thousands.
Where they are partly right is that" Poles can t wait to get. out of them" . Give. almost any person living in a flat the opportunity to afford. a house and it would be fair to conclude that individual. would say" I can t wait to get out of this apartment" . In Poland this is more intense than anywhere else in Europe. It. does not mean, that there is, however anything wrong with. the apartment. "But wait" , say the journalists in their defence. "If it was. just about buying a house why do new developments of. apartments sell so fast? " The answer is in housing density. According to the United Nations there are 317 dwellings to. every 1, 000 Polish inhabitants compared to 400 dwellings in. There simply. aren t enough" old blocks" to go round in a country that is. getting richer and where young families used to live with. their parents and grandparents. Great Britain and 425 dwellings in Bulgaria.
New developments do also offer alternative living and. provide a statement about any residents status as nuevo. rich. They do, have to be, however matched with their downsides. For the ever expanding young professional class modern. architecture, onsite security, porterage, a communal gym and. other luxuries are further obvious attractions. The. service charges are higher, there is less green space as. builders are driven by profit on limited land, the build. quality can be worse with thinner walls between the flats. and the locations can be further out of town. In. But the twentieth century estates are not crumbling. Western Europe the vast complexes thrown up as socialist. housing are now often considered for demolition.
New facades, redecorated staircases, extra insulation, modern paving and children s play. areas are making eyesores into attractive neighbourhoods. In Poland. they are being regenerated. The improvements are well received by the owners of the. apartments and they are lasting rather than suffering. vandalism. Well. richer Poles have been following the habits of many. So what is the future for the" Communist era blocks" ? Westerners by becoming small property investors in the buy- to- let market.
This means yields of around 10% are comfortably realistic. while service charges and maintenance are low and stable. The older estates represent better value for. money and have been ignored by foreign buyers while at the. same time there is little difference in the rental achieved. These apartments also offer first time buyers a way onto the. property ladder in a market that has seen substantial price. rises. But with a rising number of buy- to- let. investors and a realisation about how much they offer. compared to new builds it may not be long before journalists. will need to say" Poles and Foreign buyers can t wait to get. into these Communist Era blocks! " =========================================================== For solid, reliable and unbiased advice on buying property. in Poland get Tim Hill s essential printed guide at= => http: //www. bookshaker. com/ product_ info. php? products_ id= 195. =========================================================== It should always be remembered however that the ultimate aim. for the majority of Poles remains detached bricks and mortar. with their own garden and in this sense most" can t wait to. get out of these communist era blocks and these new. developments" .
