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Poland Communist Housing Policy
As in most other economic and social areas, postwar
Polish
housing policy followed the Soviet model. The principle
behind
that model was that housing should be public property and
a
direct tool of the state's social policy. Accordingly, the
Soviet
model eliminated private ownership or construction of
multifamily
residential buildings. Except for single-family units, the
government had the legal power to take over private houses
and
land required for building. Private construction firms
were
turned into state enterprises that did contract building
for
central state organizations. State housing policy
disregarded
supply and demand in favor of administrative space
allocation
norms, standardized design and construction practices, and
central rent control. Maintaining rents at a very low
level was
supposed to ensure that housing was available to even the
poorest
citizens. However, housing policy was subordinate to the
requirements of central economic planning, so resources
for
housing construction were directed to industrial areas
critical
to fulfilling plans and advancing state policy. Materials
distribution for housing also was subject to delays or
disruption
caused by the urgency of other types of construction
projects.
Although rural and small-town housing nominally escaped
direct
control, materials rationing and deliberate state
hindrance of
private construction limited the availability of new
housing in
such areas.
Data as of October 1992
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