Once again, we represented an owner of a real estate the local plan of which was changed.
Our client’s land was previously zoned for residential and commercial development, but its purpose has changed as a result of adoption of the new plan. This change has significantly worsened the land’s investment prospects. The Warsaw Regional Court agreed with our arguments and awarded PLN 4.2 million in damages to our client, plus statutory interest amounting to nearly PLN 2 million. Damages were calculated on the basis of the difference between the market value of the real estate according to its previous and current purpose, as well as its potential use.
The case was handled by a team from RK Legal’s Real Estate Department – Paweł Zimiński, Marcin Jadczak and Adrian Gołębiewski. The ruling is not final.
The ruling of the Warsaw Regional Court confirms the previous decisions of the Supreme Court. Importantly, the courts understand that an amendment to a planning claim should also include potential uses for that real estate. Therefore, an actual plan for the investment need not exist but only potential for it. The ruling provides further confirmation that the change in the local plan poses a threat to the real estate’s investment potential. Furthermore, the Regional Court confirmed that the occurrence of a so-called planning gap is not an aggravating circumstance for the plaintiff and does not prevent the award of damages.
adv. Paweł Zimiński
We recently wrote about a similar case here: https://www.rklegal.pl/odszkodowanie-za-zmiane-miejscowego-planu-zagospodarowania-przestrzennego/
