Polish Left goes after real-estate flippers

8 comments

1. >Poland’s Left is looking to introduce legislation that would limit the activity of the real-estate entrepreneurs known as “flippers”. But is there a basis for their hostility?  

   >Magdalena Biejat, deputy chair of the Left Alliance and deputy speaker in the current Senate, has [told](https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/biejat-nie-rezygnujemy-z-ustawy-antyflipperskiej-po-poprawkach-wroci-do-kancelarii) the Polish Press Agency that her party is determined to press ahead with legislation to limit real-estate flipping. 

   >A form of real-estate business found in many countries, “flipping” is also a significant area of business in Poland based on buying properties cheaply, renovating them and reselling for a profit. 

   >One unpopular element of flipping identified in North America and the UK is being reproduced in Poland – gentrification. Flippers are said to contribute to the increase of prices in trendy districts which then become unaffordable to inhabitants who have lived there for a long time. 

   >In Poland, this phenomenon is closely tied to the communist past where party connections or ideology meant that a central district in the city might be dedicated to party officials or factory workers. In today’s free market this creates opportunities for flippers to raise the quality of centrally located real estate, buying them from lower-income residents who need the cash, renovating and then reselling to wealthier buyers. 

   >Biejat repeats the accusations made in other countries that flippers contribute to rising house prices and the situation where property is unaffordable to first-time buyers in particular, without providing economic evidence, however. 

   >Advantages and disadvantages of flippers have been [listed](https://www.fastcompany.com/91029519/perelel-prenatal-vitamins-donation-10-million-healthcare-research-gap) in foreign press: while it is possible, for example, that an irresponsible flipper will attempt to increase the value of a property by cutting corners in building materials, it is also true that, other things being equal, raising the quality of anything in the economy will tend to increase its price. That seems to be an innocent aspect of economic growth. 

   >Similar reviews have not found evidence that flippers are a major factor in rising house prices, as opposed to a general lack of property – as in Holland for example. 

   >Biejat also suggested introducing an additional tax to limit flippers – a higher rate of tax for those who resell a property in a short space of time. This has been [tried](https://pressprogress.ca/justin-trudeaus-new-tax-on-flipping-million-dollar-homes-only-generates-8-million-in-revenue/), for example by Justin Trudeau’s Canadian government, with limited success.

   >Sources: PAP, FastCompany, [pressprogress.ca](http://pressprogress.ca)

2. Lol, with what? More toothy blowjobs for developers?

   Show us the legislation, actual bill that can be looked at. The problem with status quo in Poland is not any ideology or what parties CLAIM they’re doing. It’s the nitty gritty and the actual implementation.

   This is just pre PE election talk, zero actual concrete proposals in the article. And unless proven otherwise I’ll assume it’s another way to fleece individuals buying or inheriting, not going after corporations buying up estate like they did in Germany. IDGAF about a construction contractor investing in shitty quality one-at-a-time flips. They should be a negligible factor if our government did what Lewica claimed it’d push for – government ran development as a way to enact free market pressure on developers.

3. Polish left wont do shit about them because they also profit off of them lmao

4. Polish left wont do shit about them because they also profit off of them lmao

5. Lol, they’re part of the government. Force Tusk to do something besides Tweeting all the time.

6. Yeah, sure, I can already see Platforma Deweloperska agreeing to that – they won’t do anything that would lower real estate prices because many of their politicians are either connected to developers in some way or invest in real estate

7. It hurt itself in its confusion!

8. I retired young due to this, in fact the government had schemes to help with this.

   EU should focus on these huge holdings groups where it’s insanely hard to tell where the investors are even from but they dont, they prefer targeting whats most popular, what gets the most headlines – American big tech. Meanwhile, youth that want their first home cant even afford one to flip to begin with these days and if you dont start young. The best thing is the EU is racing closer toward a USA 2.0 style including Macrons stance on reducing taxes/regulations on giant corporations but they’re also keeping the door open for giant holdings groups to buy up farmland and real estate all across Europe.

   Native flippers should be encouraged. These holdings groups are what will make it impossible for todays youth to even think of buying a home in their 20’s. 25, not that long ago was a normal time to buy a first house.. at least in Sweden. Now even in Sweden, that number keeps getting pushed further up.

   I’m a millennial btw so my youth wasnt that long ago and the change is very very rapid, for the worse