For the Polish investment land market, 2025 is expected to be more a year of rebuilding potential rather than one marked by spectacular investment deals. In recent months, more contracts have been finalized, but decisions are preceded by thorough analyses conducted by buyers. Investors are returning to the market, even though it is currently significantly more demanding than before.
However, the investment revival does not signify a return to the scale of expansion seen before the pandemic. The heightened transactional activity observed in 2021 and 2022 stirred excitement but was quickly cooled by the absence of government support programs, lack of coherent planning policy, and restrictive credit policies that still persist, resulting in banks applying selective approaches to projects.
Today, a micro-analytical mindset dominates. Capital is seeking land for specific types of projects, primarily investments with confirmed demand potential, such as PRS (Private Rented Sector) projects, urban warehouses, or mixed-use developments in provincial cities. Land for residential construction is also being actively acquired.
Investment Share of Polish Capital
After a long “wait and see” period, many players are actively searching for investment opportunities again. Among investors, a cautious optimism prevails. Still, 2025 promises to be significantly more transactionally active compared to the previous year, especially in the second half.
While awaiting a larger share of Western European capital, ongoing investments rely heavily on “neighborly transactions,” mainly participation from Czech, German, and Baltic countries. Local capital investors not linked to the development industry also dominate the market. These investors actively invest and are starting to play an increasingly important role in a stable structure of land acquisitions.
Walter Herz carries out investment projects similarly. Recently, we successfully raised over PLN 50 million from private individuals for such acquisition projects. As experienced transactional advisors, we take on regulatory and planning pressures, while investors expect full transparency guarantees. We already boast certain successes in this area, with our own land holdings in Warsaw, Poznań, and the Tricity area, meeting inquiries from investors and business partners.
Global Trade Tensions and the Polish Land Market
Global economic shifts, including recent trade tensions between countries, have also significantly influenced Poland’s investment land market in recent months. Thanks to its stable economy and strategic location, Poland attracts investors looking for alternative locations for their operations. Detailed analyses are increasingly focusing on land for warehouse projects, data centers, energy storage facilities, and other commercial investments.
Trade frictions between the USA and China related to tariff policies are causing transformations in global supply chains, reflected in a growing number of inquiries for new logistics spaces in Poland — many from investors from China.
Despite global challenges, Poland remains attractive to foreign investors. A projected average GDP growth of 3.4% in 2025–2026, along with inflows of foreign direct investment, make our market competitive for real estate and land investments. In this context, investors view land investments as a safe haven for capital.
Interest is particularly growing in land for residential development and agricultural land with conversion potential. This trend is mainly visible in regions with strong urbanization potential. At the same time, investors remain wary of planning instability and unresolved issues, which directly impact the investment parameters.
New investors from Turkey and the Mediterranean basin engage in price competition while mitigating entry risks by focusing on smaller, safer investments. This is evidenced by four land disposal agreements concluded by Walter Herz in just the past month in Warsaw alone.
Legislative Changes Facilitating the Investment Process
Trends in the investment land market are also shaped by changing investor preferences and planning reforms introduced in Poland. One of the biggest challenges is the insufficient coverage of the country with local spatial development plans (MPZP), currently covering only about 30–40% of the territory. Investors are forced to wait long for development conditions (WZ), which can be unpredictable, discretionary, and often simply not issued. The ongoing revolution linked to General Plans is marked by continuous analyses and shifting implementation deadlines by the authorities, deepening legislative chaos.
For the investment land market in Poland to be transparent and develop faster, the implementation of simple, predictable, digital procedures is essential. Deregulations currently introduced should rationalize processes that currently hinder growth.
A good direction for reforming Poland’s construction law would be abolishing environmental decisions for selected investments that prolong the building permit process by many months, even for projects with minimal environmental impact, such as service or warehouse facilities. Creating a catalog of “low-impact” investments for which environmental decisions would not be necessary or could be replaced by investor declarations would also be helpful.
Streamlining the investment process could also involve mandatory digitization of land and mortgage registers nationwide or introducing a “white book of investment lands” — a register of areas ready for investment.
An important aspect in expanding investor acquisition possibilities would be establishing clear criteria allowing the exclusion of class IV and V agricultural lands from agricultural production without ministry consent.
Author: Emil Domeracki, Partner, Board Member Land Development Advisory, Walter Herz
