PRS in Poland Is Growing, While the Market Remains Undersupplied. What Does This Mean for Investors?

The Polish residential real estate market is entering a phase of profound structural transformation. The years 2023–2025 have brought rapid expansion of the Private Rented Sector (PRS), demonstrating its resilience to economic fluctuations. A close reading of macroeconomic and market data clearly indicates that Poland-with its significant supply gap in the professionally managed rental sector-currently represents one of the most attractive destinations for international capital in Central and Eastern Europe.

Growth Fundamentals: Why the Polish Market Is Gaining Strength

According to BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland’s report for H2 2025, the institutional rental market in Poland is in a phase of stable yet intensive growth. In 2025 alone, supply increased by 5,800 units, marking the second-highest annual result in the history of this sector in the country.

The driving force behind the Build-to-Rent (BtR) segment is a clear, structural increase in demand. The key factor is the sharply reduced accessibility of homeownership, resulting from a higher interest rate environment and the termination of government-backed mortgage subsidy programs. As Arkadiusz Bielecki, Head of Valuation at BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, points out, the attractiveness of PRS is rooted in solid fundamentals: long-term demographic trends and a growing preference for flexible living arrangements. Renting in Poland is no longer perceived as a temporary solution-it is increasingly becoming a long-term, preferred alternative.

Market Scale and the Proven Potential of Warsaw

The pace of development in Poland’s living sector outperforms many mature Western markets. According to the “Warsaw Your Place to Invest” report, by the end of 2025, approximately 26,000 BtR units were operational across Poland, with an additional 6,600 units under construction. Notably, around 80% of the current stock has been delivered since 2022, with a year-on-year increase of 27% recorded in 2025 alone.

Warsaw accounts for approximately 32-36% of the total national supply. By the end of 2025, the capital hosted around 50 BtR projects, offering over 9,500 units. Among the largest completed developments in Poland are AFI Home Metro Zachód in Warsaw (517 units), Kraków Romanowicza (673 units), and Katowice Korczaka (523 units).

Academic Hub Kraków: The Third-Largest PRS Market in Poland

Within the Polish institutional rental landscape, Kraków clearly ranks as the third-largest PRS market in the country. It is one of the key hubs for the development of this segment, with a stock exceeding 3,800 units across approximately 25 projects. Importantly, the market still has substantial room for growth-around 2,400 additional units are currently in the pipeline or under construction. This level of development activity confirms Kraków’s position as one of the most перспективive destinations for capital allocation in Poland’s institutional rental sector.

Cultural Shift: Structural Gap as a Guarantee of Demand

One of the strongest arguments for international investors lies in Poland’s ownership structure, which represents a significant untapped market gap. According to Eurostat, Poland has one of the lowest shares of commercial rental housing in the European Union—only about 13%—while approximately 87% of the population lives in owner-occupied housing.

Reaching the European average would require the delivery of hundreds of thousands of new rental units. Forecasts up to 2040 clearly indicate a gradual decline in homeownership rates in favor of a growing rental market. This shift is driven by fundamental socio-economic changes: a sharp increase in labor mobility, a steady inflow of foreign professionals (expats), and changing preferences among younger generations, who are increasingly reluctant to commit to long-term mortgage debt.

For international capital, the conclusion is straightforward: investing in Polish PRS means entering a market with structurally secured, growing demand and minimal risk of saturation over the coming decades.

Sources

bank.pl
propertynews.pl
komercja24.pl