Buy a flat or rent?

It depends on your numbers: the rent, home prices, the mortgage rate and how long you stay. In our calculator's example — a PLN 700,000 flat, a 20% down payment, a 30-year mortgage at 6.5% and a rent of PLN 3,500 for a similar flat — after 30 years buying leaves you PLN 1,594,429 better off than renting and investing the difference (PLN 568,061 in today's money). Buying takes the lead in year 3 and keeps it. Renting would win with a rent below PLN 2,469 a month.

Is rent money down the drain?

“Rent is money down the drain” is a popular argument for buying. It's true that you never get rent back. But a buyer also has costs that are gone for good: mortgage interest, upkeep (repairs, furnishing, insurance, property tax), purchase costs and, one day, selling costs. Of what the buyer pays, only the repaid part of the loan stays in the buyer's wealth; on top of that comes whatever the flat gains in value. A renter, on the other hand, doesn't tie up money in a down payment and can invest it instead.

This is the first year of the example we look at in the rest of this guide:

In the example's first year the buyer spends PLN 43,328 on interest and upkeep — PLN 1,328 more than the renter spends on rent (PLN 42,000), plus a one-off PLN 21,000 in purchase costs. What builds the buyer's wealth is the rise in the flat's value (PLN 24,500 in the first year, with prices growing by 3.5% a year) and the loan repayments (PLN 6,259); for the renter it's the investment gains (PLN 11,885 before tax in the first year).

Over 30 years the renter pays PLN 2,168,152 in rent, and the buyer PLN 714,250 in interest, PLN 367,120 in upkeep and PLN 60,295 in purchase and selling costs.

So comparing spending alone settles nothing — what matters is who ends up with more wealth after the years.

How do you compare buying and renting fairly?

The buy-or-rent calculator assumes you spend the same every month either way, and invest whatever you don't have to spend:

• Up front, the buyer pays the down payment and purchase costs. The renter invests the same amount — PLN 161,000 in the example.
• Every month, the buyer pays the installment and upkeep, and the renter pays rent. Both budgets equal the dearer option's cost, so whoever pays less in a given month invests the difference.
• At the end of every year, the calculator works out wealth as if everything were sold then. The buyer has the flat minus selling costs, the rest of the mortgage and the tax on the sale (which the calculator charges only on a sale in the first 5 years), plus the buyer's investments. The renter has just the investments. From the gains on both portfolios the calculator deducts 19% podatek Belki, the Polish capital gains tax.

In the example the buyer starts out paying PLN 4,123 a month (the installment of PLN 3,540 plus PLN 583 of upkeep) and the renter PLN 3,500 in rent, so the renter invests the difference, PLN 623 a month. The installment stays the same while the rent rises by 3.5% a year, so from year 7 on it is the buyer who pays less and invests the difference.

Home prices grow by 3.5% a year — the same as inflation, so prices stay flat in real terms. The rent rises by 3.5% a year, and investments return 7% a year before tax. Upkeep costs 1% of the flat's value a year, purchase costs are 3% of the price and selling costs 2% of the sale price. The example's mortgage has a fixed rate of 6.5% for the whole 30 years — that's how this calculator works. The mortgage overpayment calculator assumes a variable rate by default, approximated by the NBP reference rate plus a 2-percentage-point margin; the link below opens it with the same 6.5% rate.

The mortgage overpayment calculator shows the loan's own schedule (PLN 560,000 over 30 years) and what overpaying it by PLN 500 a month would save. Our guide “When doesn't overpaying your mortgage pay off?” explains when overpaying loses to investing.

After how many years does buying pay off?

This is how wealth changes in both cases in the example. At the end of each year we count it as if the flat were sold then:

At the start buying is PLN 35,000 behind: the cost of buying the flat (PLN 21,000) and of selling it straight away (PLN 14,000). Buying takes the lead in year 3 and keeps it. Sell earlier and renting comes out ahead. Sell the flat after 3 years and the tax on the gain would be PLN 7,520 — more than buying's whole lead at that point (PLN 858). After 5 years it would be PLN 17,813; after 6 years the calculator no longer charges it.

After 30 years the buyer has PLN 2,837,965 and the renter PLN 1,243,536. Buying wins by PLN 1,594,429, or PLN 568,061 in today's money with inflation at 3.5% a year.

The other key number is the break-even rent: the starting rent at which both options end with the same wealth. In the example it is PLN 2,469 a month: with a lower rent renting leaves you better off after 30 years, with a higher one buying does. The example's rent, PLN 3,500, is PLN 1,031 above it. If you move out after 10 years, it is PLN 2,596.

For context: the example flat's price equals 16.7 years of rent (PLN 700,000 against PLN 42,000 of rent a year). At the break-even rent it would be 23.6 years. It's a reference point, not a rule: with other assumptions the threshold will differ.

What changes the result most?

We checked how the result changes when one of four assumptions changes and the rest stay as in the example:

How each assumption works:

• Rent. The higher it is, the better buying does: the renter spends more and has less left to invest.
• Home price growth. The faster prices rise, the better buying does: the flat is worth more while the mortgage stays the same.
• Mortgage rate. The higher it is, the better renting does: the buyer pays more interest, and the renter invests a bigger difference.
• Investment return. The higher it is, the better renting does: the renter invests PLN 161,000 from day one, so a higher return helps the renter most.

In this comparison the rent moves the result most: after 30 years, with PLN 2,500 buying wins by PLN 47,428, and with PLN 4,500 by PLN 3,141,430. The changes in the table aren't the same size, so this conclusion applies to these scenarios, not to every possible change.

After 10 years buying wins in the example, but with a rent of PLN 2,500 and with home prices growing by 1% a year, renting comes out ahead. After 30 years buying wins in every scenario in the table.

Try a few scenarios in the calculator — say, home prices growing by 1% a year, or a lower rent:

What does buying and selling a flat cost?

Transaction costs never come back, so they push back the point from which buying pays off. When you buy a flat you pay:

• The tax on civil law transactions (podatek od czynności cywilnoprawnych, PCC) — 2% of the price on the secondary market, PLN 14,000 on a PLN 700,000 flat. Buying from a developer, there's no PCC, as VAT is already in the price. A first flat or house may be exempt — the conditions are in the questions at the end of this guide.
• The notary's fee (taksa notarialna) — for the sale of a flat the notary may charge at most half the maximum rate in the regulation on notary fees.
• Court fees — PLN 200 for each land register (księga wieczysta) entry, such as ownership and the mortgage.
• Mortgage costs — the bank may add a commission, a valuation or low-down-payment insurance.
• An estate agent's commission, if you buy through an agency.

In the example purchase costs are 3% of the price, PLN 21,000 — of which PLN 14,000 is PCC alone if you buy on the secondary market without the exemption. Change them from 3% to 1% of the price and buying takes the lead in year 2; at 5%, in year 5.

Selling adds the agent's commission and the fee for repaying the mortgage early. On a variable rate the bank may charge it only in the first 36 months: at most 3% of the amount repaid, and no more than a year's interest on it. During a fixed-rate period it may claim compensation for its costs. In the calculator, include these fees in the selling costs.

Then there's tax: 19% of the gain if you sell before the end of the fifth calendar year after the year of purchase. A flat bought in 2026 can be sold free of this tax from 2032. The calculator counts the gain as the sale price minus selling costs, the purchase price and purchase costs. It leaves out the housing relief, which can spare you the tax — the questions at the end cover it too.

What can't the calculator measure?

The result is only part of the decision. The calculator can't put a price on:

• Stability. In your own flat no landlord can give you notice, and you can arrange it your way. A tenant depends on the landlord, who largely decides the rent and how long you can stay.
• Flexibility. Renting makes it easy to move, for a job for example. Selling a flat takes time and money, and a mortgage is a big debt for many years.
• Risk. Home prices can stall or fall for years, a mortgage rate can rise once its fixed period ends, and investments can lose money — while the calculator assumes the same pace every year. A buyer usually has most of their wealth in one flat, bought largely with borrowed money.
• Discipline. The result assumes that whoever pays less in a given month really invests the difference — in the example, first the renter, then from year 7 the buyer. A mortgage forces you to repay; investing takes consistency.

So treat the result as a scenario, not a forecast, and also try scenarios less favourable to the option you prefer.