**2. Changes after 1989 in Poland and their impact on the housing market**

After 1989, Poland underwent a political, economic, and social transformation. The command-and-control economy model was replaced with the free market economy model. Legal solutions were introduced that allowed the running of a business by private persons without restrictions. The possibility of creating commercial companies, and freedom of trade and services were restored. The process of privatization of enterprises which until then had been uniformly owned by the state was initiated. The banking sector was commercialized and the centralization of the economy was abandoned [9]. Restrictions on land ownership were lifted, and it became possible to acquire freely real estate and recover plots of land and buildings taken over by the state in the past. The rules of lease control were abandoned, but the privileges of tenants who, in the previous period, obtained the right to premises on the basis of housing decisions were retained, which significantly limited the owners of tenement houses in exercising their ownership rights.

The restoration of local government, in which local authorities were the basic units, was a very important element of the changes. Municipalities were equipped with land, including that built up with residential buildings. As a result of this process, known as communalization, municipalities became the owners of numerous residential buildings, taken over from workplaces or from the state, together with tenants. The buildings were very often in a very poor technical condition as a result of many years of neglect.

The transformation of the 1990s also had its negative side - bankruptcy of many enterprises, loss of jobs by part of society, and the rise of record breaking unemployment and hyperinflation. Many buildings built by state-owned enterprises were sold to other entities with tenants, or transferred in various forms, to local authorities, or housing cooperatives. There was still a shortage of flats on the market in Poland, both for sale and for rent.

The legal system in Poland was completely rebuilt, and over the years, all important legal acts have either been amended or enacted anew. In the field of civil law, private property has regained its prominent place. Modern construction law regulations and provisions regulating the rules of spatial development and real estate management have been developed. Real estate began to be perceived, not only in terms of utility for meeting the housing needs of the family, but also in terms of investment. On June 24, 1994, the Act on the ownership of premises was passed (Journal of Laws No. 85, item 388), which regulated, inter alia, the institution of a housing community, the construction of the right to separate ownership of premises, and the rights and obligations of owners of premises. Pursuant to this act, it became possible to separate premises in all multi-family buildings, both those newly built and those that existed at the time of entry into force of this act. A market of flats purchased as investment has emerged, and not only for satisfying one's own housing needs. This act initiated the growth of the development market in Poland, which was quickly gaining in importance. In this way, the monopoly of housing cooperatives for the construction of multi-family buildings was abolished.
