June 2026 brought 18,705 homes completed and ready for occupancy – the strongest sixth month of the year in at least two decades and a result that surpassed the previous June record set in 2023. However, the strong monthly figure did not translate into a record-breaking first half of the year: none of the main residential construction indicators reached an all-time high for the January–June period. The true leaders of the first half were the smaller segments – social housing associations, social housing initiatives and individual investors.
Strong June, average first half
Between January and June 2026, a total of 94,886 homes were completed in Poland. This was better than the weak result recorded in 2025 (91,947), but still clearly below the levels seen in 2021–2023, when more than 100,000 homes were completed in the corresponding period (105,444 in 2021, 109,195 in 2022 and 111,860 in 2023). A clear slowdown was already visible in 2024, when 95,617 homes were completed, while the 2026 result was at a similar level.
Homes completed by all investor groups, H1 2021–2026
Source: Otodom Analytics based on Statistics Poland data. Author’s own analysis.
Developers: an average result despite a strong June
June 2026 was clearly better for property developers than the corresponding months of 2024 and 2025, although it did not surpass the exceptionally strong June of 2023, when developers completed more than 13,500 homes. This year, the figure was 11,706 units. In the first half of 2026, developers completed a total of 57,363 homes, placing the result between the weaker 2025 figure of 56,939 and the higher totals recorded in earlier years: 64,499 in 2023, 62,758 in 2022 and 60,646 in 2021. In terms of completed developer-built housing, the first half of 2026 should therefore be assessed as average.
Social and affordable rental housing is heading for a record
A completely different picture is emerging in the segment of social housing associations and social housing initiatives. In June 2026, they completed 1,295 homes – more than the 1,215 units delivered in the whole of 2021. By comparison, the June 2025 figure was as high as 4,383 homes. On a cumulative basis, however, social housing associations and social housing initiatives completed 2,531 homes in the first half of 2026 – the same number as in the whole of 2024. All indications suggest that social and affordable rental housing is heading for a record year in 2026, and exceeding 5,000 completed homes over the full year is now a realistic scenario.
Although the social and affordable rental housing segment remains small compared with the overall market, it is growing faster than any other form of residential construction, driven by social housing programmes implemented by local authorities.
Developers are building up a stock of permits
In June 2026, all investor groups obtained permits for the construction of 25,260 homes – a solid result compared with the previous three years. The entire first half looks even stronger: 145,119 permits were issued, more than in the corresponding periods of 2023, 2024 and 2025, although still fewer than in the record years of 2021–2022, when more than 170,000 permits were issued within six months.
Among developers, activity has fluctuated significantly from year to year. A very strong 2022, when 118,087 permits were obtained in H1, was followed by a weak 2023 result of 73,766. This was followed by a strong 2024 result of 102,119, another weak year in 2025 with 76,543 permits, and a return to a solid figure of 95,963 in 2026. Developers have therefore accumulated a stock of permits sufficient to launch new projects freely in the coming months.
Housing construction permits, H1 2021–2026: all investors vs developers
Source: Otodom Analytics based on Statistics Poland data. Author’s own analysis.
Individual investors: the strongest first half in four years
While developers are taking a cautious approach to new projects – partly because of the large supply of homes for sale in Poland’s largest markets – individual investors, meaning households building their own homes, are steadily increasing activity. In the first half of 2026, they started construction on 42,052 homes, more than in the corresponding periods of 2025 (40,513), 2024 (39,924) and 2023 (35,576). This was the strongest result for this group in four years, while the steady increase in construction activity among individual investors, visible since 2024, confirms that the trend is becoming established.
Across all investor groups, construction started on 114,568 homes in the first half of 2026. This placed the result exactly in the middle of the range, between the record 144,561 starts in 2021 and the weakest result of 85,598 in 2023. Developers started construction on 69,622 homes during the same period, which was significantly better than the weak 2023 figure of 47,956, but clearly below the strongest years of 2021 (87,682) and 2024 (80,591).
Housing starts, H1 2021–2026: developers vs individual investors
Source: Otodom Analytics based on Statistics Poland data. Author’s own analysis.
What this means for the market
The picture emerging from Otodom Analytics data for the first half of 2026 is more nuanced than the June record alone might suggest. Developers are acting cautiously. Although they have built up a stock of permits, they are holding back from launching new projects because of the large supply of homes for sale in major markets. At the same time, activity is rising in two other segments: households building their own homes and social and affordable rental housing, which is heading for a record year. For construction companies and building materials suppliers, this means a shift in the structure of demand – towards a larger number of smaller, dispersed individual and local-authority projects, while the scale of major developer-led schemes remains relatively stable rather than expanding.
Source: Otodom Analytics based on data from Statistics Poland. Commentary by Katarzyna Kuniewicz, Director of Market Research at Otodom. Author’s own analysis based on Otodom press materials.
