“Lex Developer” in Practice - The Scale of Application in the Largest Polish Cities

Abstract State intervention in the housing market can take many different forms. In Poland, in 2018, a lex specialis regulation was introduced to the general principles of spatial policy in terms of special privileges for developers operating in the housing market. As the entity responsible for local spatial policy, the municipality has been deprived of its decision-making power by granting developers who build residential buildings the right to act against local planning rules. The article aims to determine the preparation of the largest Polish cities to negotiate with developers through the adoption of local urban standards, the scale of use of lex developer solutions in these cities, and the analysis of the level of non-compliance in privileged investments with local planning rules. The study used desk research methods (critical literature analysis, source materials - texts of legal acts and statistical data), case studies, and comparative analysis. The conducted research allows for answering the research question posed in work: the level of completion of lex specialis purposes indicated by the legislator.