Occasional Lease vs Institutional Lease in Poland – the Differences

An occasional lease (najem okazjonalny) can be used only by owners who are natural persons and do not run a business renting out flats. An institutional lease (najem instytucjonalny) is intended for professional landlords and does not require the tenant to name a property they could move to. Both agreements allow the flat to be recovered on the basis of the tenant's notarial statement and an enforcement clause, but the procedures differ in the details.

Where the two forms of lease come from

Both agreements are governed by the Act of 21 June 2001 on the Protection of Tenants' Rights, Municipal Housing Stock and Amendment of the Civil Code (ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów, mieszkaniowym zasobie gminy i o zmianie Kodeksu cywilnego, consolidated text: Dz.U. z 2023 r. poz. 725). The occasional lease (Chapter 2a, Art. 19a–19e) has been in force since 28 January 2010. The institutional lease (Chapter 2b, Art. 19f–19j) was added by the Act of 20 July 2017 on the National Property Resource (ustawa o Krajowym Zasobie Nieruchomości, Dz.U. z 2017 r. poz. 1529), which entered into force on 11 September 2017. The same chapter also regulates a variant with an option to buy – the institutional lease leading to ownership (Art. 19k et seq.).

Comparison table

Who can use which form

What matters is not how many flats someone owns, but whether they let them as part of a business renting out flats. A natural person letting privately concludes an occasional lease. A person running a business in a different field (e.g. an accounting office) can still conclude an occasional lease for a flat they do not let through that business. A company or entrepreneur whose business includes letting flats can conclude an institutional lease or a standard lease agreement – the occasional lease is not available to them.

Choosing between private letting and letting as a business also has tax consequences, which we describe in our article what taxes landlords pay.

What the difference means for the tenant

With an institutional lease, the tenant does not have to find someone willing to take them in at their address – a statement made before a notary is enough. That makes things easier, especially for people who have only just arrived in Poland. But keep in mind what it means in the event of enforcement: the tenant acknowledges in advance that they have no right to social housing or temporary accommodation. If the debtor has no right to temporary accommodation, the bailiff (komornik) removes them to a night shelter, hostel or other facility designated by the municipality (gmina) (Art. 1046 § 5¹ of the Code of Civil Procedure (Kodeks postępowania cywilnego)).

On the other hand, an institutional tenant has more time to move out (at least 14 days instead of 7) and greater certainty about the reasons – the owner cannot later rely on grounds they did not state in the demand.

With an occasional lease, the named property and its owner's consent are mandatory. People who have no family or friends able to make such a statement (oświadczenie właściciela) – which the market calls a "guarantee" (poręczenie) or an "address for the occasional lease" – use companies that prepare this document; on our website the statement options start at 298 zł. We cover the situation of foreigners separately in our article guarantees for foreigners.

How to check which agreement you are signing

1. Check who the landlord is: a private individual or a company. You can find a business's details in the CEIDG (business register) or KRS (National Court Register).
2. Read the title and first clause of the agreement – they should expressly state "occasional lease" (najem okazjonalny) or "institutional lease" (najem instytucjonalny) and the relevant provision of the Act.
3. Compare the draft notarial statement with the table above: for an institutional lease it contains an additional clause on having no right to social housing or temporary accommodation.
4. If a company asks you for an "address for the occasional lease", ask why – a business letting flats as part of its activity cannot conclude an occasional lease.
5. Make sure the deposit does not exceed six times the rent – that is the cap for both forms.

Institutional lease leading to ownership

This is a special variant in which the tenant undertakes to buy the flat and the landlord undertakes to transfer ownership to them no later than the day the lease ends, once the price has been paid. Such an agreement is made in the form of a notarial deed, and the notary's fee for drawing it up is no more than 1/5 of the minimum wage (Art. 19k(3) and (9)). The tenant's claim for transfer of ownership is entered in the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) (Art. 19l(1)).

You will find a broader comparison of the occasional lease with a standard agreement in our article how an occasional lease differs from a standard lease agreement.

Frequently asked questions