The property restitution in Warsaw: renaissance or decline of pre-war buildings?

This paper aimed to provide an understanding of the segment of pre-war buildings in Warsaw (Poland) and its position within the housing stock in the light of restitution of private properties. Although the majority of the buildings were destroyed during the Second World War, enclaves of the pre-war buildings still exist in the central districts of the capital city of Poland. The communalization of land in Warsaw in 1945 considerably reduced the proportion of private ownership. In the following years, the scarcity of funds for repairs and rehabilitation of the pre-war buildings contributed to their poor maintenance, resulting in worsening housing conditions. Since 1989, the political and economic transformation in Poland strengthened the privatization and paved the way to restitution of communalized properties to their previous private owners or their heirs. However, lack of law on property restitution and the complexity of groups of interest involved in this process (former private owners, "buyers of claims," municipality and tenants) entail different tensions. In this way, the private owners struggle for years with restitution procedures, "buyers of claims" attempt to make profit on restitution, and sitting tenants defend their right to stay and to pay lower rents after the building is returned. Finally, the renaissance or decline of restituted pre-war residential buildings in Warsaw is strongly influenced by the type of existing ownership structure of individual dwellings in a building which may facilitate or hamper its refurbishment.