2023-10-08

Reservation fee in the reservation agreement of residential premises or a detached house

The amendment to the developer’s rationing has standardised the nature and amount of the so-called reservation fee – Article 32(2) of the new Developer’s Act – which may not exceed 1% of the price of the residential premises or a detached house specified in the prospectus.

It is necessary to systematise the following concepts after the amendment:
(i) the reservation agreement is a named contract,
(ii) the reservation fee does not constitute a deposit or advance payment in the strict sense.

The function of the reservation fee, as the name suggests, is to temporarily exclude from the sale of specific residential premises or a detached house.

The enumerated cases for the return of the reservation fee to the purchaser under Article 34 of the New Development Act are:
(i) the reserving party has not obtained a positive credit decision or a promise to grant a loan, as referred to in the second sentence of Article 31, due to a negative creditworthiness assessment within the meaning of Article 4(11) of the Act of 23 March 2017 on mortgage credit and supervision of mortgage credit intermediaries and agents;
(ii) the developer or an entrepreneur other than the developer referred to in Article 4 fails to perform the obligation under the reservation agreement;
(iii) the developer has amended the prospectus or its appendices without informing the reserving party.

Real estate market practice shows that many developers stipulate in the reservation agreement additional fees or costs resulting, for example, from the workload of the legal or accounting department. This provision requires caution, precision of wording and a substantive understanding of the current position of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection .

*Depending on the legal basis for the reimbursement of the reservation fee, the reimbursement may be in the double amount of the reservation fee (hybrid elements characteristic of the institution of a deposit within the meaning of the Civil Code),
**The developer is obliged to deposit the reservation fee in the housing trust account maintained for the development project.

8 October 2023

More
A. Sławińska, Urban development agreement 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Proposal for amendment of the Act on Establishment of the Agricultural System 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Draft amendment to the Act on the protection of historical monuments 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Amendment of the regulation on technical conditions #StopPatodeweloperka 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Amendment of the Real Estate Management Act 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Purchase of your first property on the secondary market No tax on civil law transactions (hereinafter: ‘TCLT’) 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Streamlining the investment and construction process under the June 2023 amendment. 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Do the provisions of the new Development Law apply to the practice of so-called flipping, which is popular in the real estate market? 

Read more
A. Sławińska, New pre-emptive right – Revitalisation resolution 

Read more
A. Sławińska, 2% Safe Mortgage programme for the housing market (hereinafter: ‘Safe Mortgage’) 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Lex developer – amendment of 17 August 2023 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Urban register as an innovative planning reform tool 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Zoning fee 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Architects’ civil liability and public liability insurance 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Disciplinary, professional and criminal liability of architects 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Uniformity of the content of the development agreement with the agreement on establishment of separate ownership of a residential unit and transfer of its ownership right 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Lex silo, or the next stage of the amendment of the construction law 

Read more
A. Sławińska, BREEAM Certificate 

Read more
A. Sławińska, At what stage should the developer deliver the prospectus to the purchaser? 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Amendment of the Water Law – wastewater management 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Building permit for energy storage facilities (RES) 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Methods of financing development projects 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Joint Venture in the real estate market 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Are commercial premises subject to the regime of the new Development Law? 

Read more
A. Sławińska, The new law on developers and construction projects in progress 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Further fate of reprivatisation and tenants of Warsaw tenements 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Amendment of the impact area of a facility 

Read more
A. Sławińska, PROCEDURE FOR THE ISSUE OF A WATER PERMIT IN THE INVESTMENT AND CONSTRUCTION PROCESS 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Brief assumptions – crowdfunding as an alternative method of financing in the real estate market 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Brief assumptions Housing co-operatives – a new solution in the real estate market 

Read more
A. Sławińska, ENVIRONMENTAL PROCEDURE FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Lifetime contract and easement of habitation 

Read more
A. Sławińska, Private Rented Sector (PRS) 

Read more
CONTACT
WARSAW / GDYNIA
[!] ATTENTION: Meeting by appointment only
WARSAW
PLAC ZBAWICIELA 2/23
GDYNIA
AL. MARSZ. PIŁSUDSKIEGO 18/4