Although holiday cabins require relatively few formalities and building one is quick, deciding whether such a building counts as a household is far less straightforward. A holiday cabin will only count as a household if it is converted into an all-year cabin. Holiday cabins used purely for recreation are not households.
What is a holiday cabin?
According to Article 29, point 2 of the Polish Building Law, a holiday cabin is a detached, single-storey building for individual recreation, meaning a building intended for seasonal leisure. The law makes it clear that the building is not originally intended for permanent residence, only for temporary stays.
For a holiday cabin to be built without a building permit, it must meet several requirements. Above all, it must be a detached, single-storey building, and there should be no more than one cabin per 500 m² of land. The cabin's footprint also cannot exceed 70 m². The cost of building a holiday cabin, meanwhile, depends on its construction, floor area and fittings.
What is a household?
Put simply, a household is a group of people who live together and support themselves jointly. A person who supports themselves independently also forms a household, but it is called a single-person household. Besides single-person and multi-person households (that is, more than two people), Statistics Poland (GUS) also distinguishes between family and non-family households.
Unrelated people living in the same property do not form a single shared household, as long as each of them supports themselves independently.
Are holiday cabins residential properties?
A wooden holiday cabin, like any other type of holiday cabin, is generally not a residential property. As the name suggests, these buildings are intended primarily for recreation. However, a holiday cabin can be converted into an all-year cabin, that is, a residential building.
For a holiday cabin to become a residential building, you will need to submit documents and applications to the County Office (Starostwo Powiatowe). If the building is approved for the change, it will have to be rebuilt so that it meets all the requirements of a residential building.
Will a holiday cabin converted into a residential building count as a household?
Recreational buildings and residential buildings differ in purpose, but once fully converted, a holiday cabin takes on the same characteristics as an all-year cabin. This is equivalent to turning the holiday cabin into a household.
For a property to become a household, you must first bring its technical parameters into line with the regulations and fit the building with the necessary installations. A holiday cabin is not required to have a heating system, but in a residential building it is a necessity. All these steps are essential, because only then can the shared and individual needs of the building's occupants be met, which is one of the most important characteristics of a household.
Before converting a holiday cabin, check whether the Local Spatial Development Plan (Miejscowy Plan Zagospodarowania Przestrzennego) permits it.
