The company Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) has already bought 1,000 ha of land for the construction of an airport. This is the result of the Voluntary Purchase Programme (PDN) – a solution not previously used for public investments in Poland. The conditions under the PDN are more attractive than the procedure of expropriation with compensation.
According to the latest figures, the pool of purchased properties has exceeded 1,000 ha. This is by no means the end, as the number of transactions is steadily increasing. More cases are either waiting for notarial deeds to be signed or are at the stage of signing memoranda of understanding or advanced talks.
CPK is the first ever investment to have started completely without expropriation, solely based on voluntary acquisitions. “The success of the PDN is due to the fact that we have analysed the situation of all residents, families and households from the in-vestment area. The programme is so flexible that everyone can find a solution that suits their situation”, said Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, the government’s acting representative for CPK, Marcin Horała.
The value of each property is determined by independent appraisers selected through a public tender. When selling a property, owners are offered 140 % of the market value of the buildings and 120 % of the value of the land. This means that, for example, for a house worth PLN 1 million under the PDN, they can obtain PLN 1 million 400 thousand.
Depending on the situation of the residents, a replacement valuation of the real estate without taking into account the degree of wear and tear is also applied. This is a very attractive offer for owners of older houses and those in poor technical condition. The price offered for the property is such high that the owner can build a new house of the same size for it at current market rates.
The first phase of the airport, i.e. two parallel runways and infrastructure to handle 40 million passengers, is expected to be operational in 2028. The CPK Master Plan assumes that the airport will be expanded in a modular manner thereafter.
Adrian Andrzejewski