It's incredibly important to handle the formalities for reclassifying an agricultural plot into a recreational one as quickly as possible. More and more gminas are denying changes of land use for agricultural land, which can make the land unsellable or force you to delay construction.
The conversion of an agricultural plot can take place only when the investment does not conflict with the municipal spatial policy. Additionally, how much the conversion costs will depend on the project we want to implement.
What is an agricultural plot?
From a legal point of view, an agricultural plot is land that may be used for conducting production activities in farming, including both crop and livestock production. A part of the agricultural property also includes farm lands, i.e. orchards, meadows, pastures and arable land. When buying an agricultural plot with the intention of building a house, it is necessary to change its designation from agricultural to building with recreational development. Such a transformation must take place in accordance with the Local Spatial Development Plan.</p>
The Local Spatial Development Plan is a local law prepared by the wójt, mayor or city president and enacted by the commune or city council.
What is a building plot?
A building plot is land that meets the requirements needed to carry out a construction investment, e.g., a single-family or multi-family house. These include: size, geometric features, access to a public road and utility infrastructure.
To learn about the possibility of placing a structure on a building plot, we refer to it in the same way as for an agricultural plot, from the Local Spatial Development Plan. It’s worth noting that if you want to build a holiday cabin, the plot must allow not only residential but also recreational development.
Adam IV Holiday Cabin 35 m² (CRA)
Mateusz CRA Cabin – 48 m²
Richard House - 47 m2 (SSZ)
When does an agricultural plot become a building plot?
Agricultural land becomes building land when specific administrative tasks are fulfilled: change of land use and removal from agricultural production, i.e. its de-agrarianization. The conversion from agricultural to building land takes place in the Local Spatial Development Plan. If the land is not covered by an MPZP, you need to request from the commune or city office a decision on building conditions.
Can every plot be de-agrarianized?
Not every plot can be de-agrarianized. One of the obstacles is the act on protection of agricultural and forest lands, whose aim is to protect the best soils by excluding lands from the possibility of construction and converting them into plots of a different character. To de-agrarianize a plot, you must submit an application to change the designation of the agricultural plot to building purposes. Such an application must be submitted to the commune under which the land falls, and the authority has unlimited time to consider it.
If the commune has not prepared an MPZP for the land, we must first apply for a decision on building conditions and land development.
When is the conversion of an agricultural plot possible?
Converting an agricultural plot into a building plot is possible when the land has been classified as:
- fallow land,
- land with the lowest productive usability, i.e. classes IV, V and VI.
Transforming an agricultural plot classified as soils of classes I-III comes with significant problems. The process is possible but only after obtaining the consent of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. The simplest formalities concern individual investors who purchase small parcels of agricultural land planned to be allocated for holiday cabins or single-family homes.