Service flats for police officers
Text from 2019. Laws, rates and prices may have changed since then. Ask an agent
Is it true that every police officer is entitled to a service flat? What are the allocation criteria? Is it a common practice today, or rather a vague memory? How can you obtain an allocation or its substitute – a housing allowance? Find out more!
• According to the letter of the law• The small print
• Unforeseen circumstances
According to the letter of the law
The Police Act states:
“a police officer in permanent service is entitled to residential premises in the locality where he or she serves, or in a nearby locality, taking into account the number of family members and their entitlements under separate regulations” (Art. 88(1)).
This is, however, only an excerpt. The detailed provisions temper the optimism of prospective police officers somewhat, as they show that only police officers in permanent service who have spent at least 3 years in it can receive the right to a service flat. It goes without saying that a police officer who wants to obtain a service flat to rent cannot hold the right to any other residential premises.
That is the theory. Practice shows, however, that obtaining an allocation of a service flat is extremely difficult. A much more common situation is that the officer is granted a housing allowance or a subsidy towards buying their own flat. There are also plenty of disappointed police officers who are offered only a paid place in a police hotel.
READ ALSO – WHAT TO DO WHEN A TENANT DOES NOT PAY?
The small print
Even if a police officer manages to obtain the right to rent a flat, they must reckon with numerous restrictions and fine details in the provisions. What are the most important ones?
- The right to a possible buyout of the flat belongs only to the police officer – it does not apply to their spouse, children or other family members
- A police officer's family is entitled to live in the premises only on the basis of the legal title held by the officer
- An officer in permanent service may lose the allocated flat in certain circumstances
Unforeseen circumstances
An allocated flat may be taken away from a police officer if specific grounds arise. It may happen that the administration issues a decision to vacate the residential premises – this matter is regulated by Art. 95(2)–(3a) of the Police Act.
The regulations are clear: a police officer may not sublet the allocated flat or any part of it, nor may they neglect household duties that lead to damage in the flat or the destruction of shared facilities (equipment in the stairwell, the building's facade, the rubbish chute and so on).
The officer must also take care to pay rent and service charges on time. If they fall behind for two full settlement periods, they may lose the right to rent the flat.
The rules here are clear and, above all, based on the general principles of social life – they require nothing of police officers beyond what is expected of every citizen.
It is worth remembering, however, that the right to an allocated flat may also be taken away when the officer is transferred to serve elsewhere (provided that other premises are allocated) and when the officer is convicted by a final court judgment of an intentional offence or an intentional fiscal offence.
Would you like to find out more about the possibility of obtaining a service flat for police staff? Contact a representative of the REMAX Gold office in Katowice.
