Can a foreigner get a mortgage in Poland?

Yes. Polish banks lend to foreigners, and the rule that sets your deposit is the one a Polish buyer meets: a loan can cover 80% of the property's value, or 90% with extra security. On a 55 m² Warsaw flat at the Seeki.eu median, that's €45,111 of your own money. Where you earn, and in which currency, decides the rest.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-30. Seeki.eu is not a lender, broker, legal or tax adviser, and this is orientation, not advice. Supervisory guidance, bank policies and interest rates change. Confirm your own case with a Polish bank, a licensed credit intermediary or a notary before you commit.

Can a foreigner get a mortgage in Poland?

Yes. The rules that cap Polish mortgage lending say nothing about nationality. They sit in Recommendation S (Rekomendacja S), the guideline the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego, KNF) issues for loans secured on property, last revised in June 2023. It's supervisory guidance rather than statute, and it treats you exactly as it treats a borrower born in Warsaw.

What sorts foreign applicants is bank practice. Banks typically ask for a residence card with at least six months left to run. They typically want a PESEL too, which is Poland's national identification number. And they look for income earned in Poland.

Meet all three and your file looks close to a local one. Live abroad on a foreign salary and you're outside the profile most banks are built for. Expect fewer offers.

Buying is a separate question from borrowing, and the permit section below covers it. How Poland stacks up against other markets is in our comparison of non-resident mortgages across Europe, and the purchase itself, from preliminary contract to notarial deed, is in the Buying Property in Poland as a Foreigner (2026 Guide).

How much deposit do you need for a Polish mortgage?

Twenty percent, unless you pay for a shortcut to ten. Recommendation S caps the loan at 80% of the property's value when it's paid out. The bank may go to 90% if the slice between 80% and 90% carries extra security.

The guideline lists what counts. Insurance is one route. Funds blocked in a bank account are another, as is a pledge on złoty bonds issued by the Polish Treasury or the National Bank of Poland (NBP). You can also transfer cash to the bank, or pledge savings held in a Polish individual retirement account.

Here's the catch for a euro saver. If the cash you hand over is in a currency other than the loan's, Recommendation S tells the bank to assume it has lost at least half its value. On a 55 m² Warsaw flat at the Seeki.eu median, the slice between 80% and 90% is €22,556. Securing it with euros ties up at least €45,111 on top of the 10% deposit, more cash than a plain 20% deposit.

The deposit isn't your whole cash bill either. A resale flat adds about 2% to 3% in taxes and fees, most of it the 2% transfer tax, and our breakdown of what it costs to buy a home in Poland itemises the rest.

What happens if you earn in euros, not złoty?

A złoty loan on a euro salary is a bill whose price in your currency moves every day. Take the Warsaw flat at 80% over 25 years: 5,075 zł a month, which is €1,163 at the European Central Bank's reference rate of 4.3653 zł per euro on 29 September 2026. If the euro later buys 10% fewer złoty, the same 5,075 zł costs you €1,292. Nobody at the bank touched your contract.

Polish banks typically lend in złoty. Recommendation S doesn't ban loans in other currencies. It does define any loan in a currency other than the one you earn in as a foreign-currency exposure (walutowa ekspozycja kredytowa), and a złoty loan on a euro salary fits that definition exactly.

Households with two currencies meet the sharpest rule. Recommendation 6 tells the bank to assume a 50% fall in every currency other than the one you earn most in when it tests what you can afford. Say one partner earns 10,000 zł a month and the other €1,000. The bank counts the euro salary as about 2,183 zł, not 4,365 zł.

That mismatch is a Polish problem, not a universal one. Slovakia is in the euro area and its banks lend in euros, which is why a euro earner borrowing in Slovakia carries no currency risk at all.

Do foreigners need a permit to buy property in Poland?

Get this wrong and the purchase doesn't exist. Under the Act of 24 March 1920 on the acquisition of real estate by foreigners, a purchase made without a required permit is void.

Citizens of the European Economic Area and Switzerland need no permit. The act's transition periods for farmland and second homes ran out years ago.

Everyone else needs a permit from the Minister of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA), valid for two years from issue, unless an exemption applies. The one that matters most for a flat buyer: a self-contained apartment (samodzielny lokal mieszkalny) needs no permit, and neither does a garage space bought for your housing needs.

That exemption stops at the border zone (strefa nadgraniczna). Inside it, even a flat needs a permit, so ask the notary whether the address falls within it before you sign anything.

A house or a plot of land needs a permit for a non-EEA buyer, with two main exceptions. One is having lived in Poland for at least five years since receiving a permanent residence permit or an EU long-term resident permit. The other is being married to a Polish citizen, having lived here two years since such a permit, and buying into your joint marital property.

Poland's rules sit next to the rest of Europe's in our guide to non-resident buying rules, and the Polish buying guide explains how to apply if you need a permit.

What does a Warsaw or Kraków flat cost each month?

Kraków saves you about €5,360 of deposit on the same 55 m². The table prices a 55 m² flat at the median asking price per square metre of apartments on Seeki.eu, as of 30 September 2026: €4,101/m² in Warsaw and €3,614/m² in Kraków.

Scenario	Price (€)	Deposit (€)	Loan (€)	Monthly, 25 years (€)	Monthly (zł)
Warsaw, 80% loan	225,555	45,111	180,444	1,163	5,075
Warsaw, 90% loan	225,555	22,556	202,999	1,308	5,710
Kraków, 80% loan	198,770	39,754	159,016	1,025	4,472
Kraków, 90% loan	198,770	19,877	178,893	1,153	5,031

The rate is 6.00%, the average on new złoty home loans to Polish households in July 2026, in the European Central Bank's interest-rate statistics compiled with the NBP. For context, the NBP's own reference rate has stood at 3.75% since 5 March 2026. Payments are standard annuities over 300 months at 0.5% a month, with złoty figures at 4.3653 zł per euro.

These are asking prices, not sale prices, and the 90% rows exclude whatever the extra security costs. Which city suits you is its own question, taken up in Warsaw vs Kraków vs Gdańsk, and the 2026 price-per-m² ranking of Polish cities shows where the rest of the country sits.

Does a longer term help you qualify?

No. Stretching the term lowers the payment but not the bar. Recommendation S says a bank should recommend terms of no more than 25 years and never lend beyond 35.

At 35 years the Warsaw 80% loan drops to about €1,029 a month. But for any term longer than 25 years, the bank tests your creditworthiness as if the loan ran 25. The longer term buys you breathing room once you own the flat. It doesn't buy you a bigger loan.

The bank also watches your debt-to-income ratio. Recommendation S asks for particular care once all your debt payments pass 40% of net income, for borrowers earning up to the regional average wage, and 50% for everyone else. At the 50% line, the Warsaw 80% payment implies about €2,325 of net monthly income with no other debts. The Kraków equivalent is about €2,049. Banks add their own buffers on top, so treat both as floors.

The median prices per square metre across Poland let you rerun this for any city before you talk to a bank.

How do you check the numbers before you call a bank?

The bank's figure comes last. Yours can come first.

Seeki.eu puts Polish homes next to the rest of Europe, in your language, with prices in the currency you choose. Listing titles and descriptions are translated on demand, so a Polish advert reads in English. Every listing for sale carries a Financing section with an estimated monthly payment at the country's latest average mortgage rate. It opens at 20% down over 30 years. For the 25-year payment a Polish bank tests you on, the mortgage calculator opens Poland at 20% down over 25 years.

Save a search for the district you want and a daily digest brings new matches and price drops. If Poland is one candidate among several, compare what one budget buys across up to 30 cities, or put up to four homes side by side, whatever country they're in.

One more date to know. If you might sell within five years, read how Poland taxes a quick resale first, because the five years run from the end of the calendar year you buy in.

Frequently asked questions

Can a non-resident get a mortgage in Poland?

Yes, though the path is narrower. Poland's lending guideline, Recommendation S, sets no nationality test, but banks typically want a Polish residence card, a PESEL national identification number and income earned in Poland. Without them, expect fewer offers. While you line up a lender, Seeki.eu lets you follow Polish listings in English with prices in the currency you choose, so you know what your budget buys.

How much deposit do I need for a mortgage in Poland?

Plan on 20% of the property's value. Recommendation S, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority's lending guideline, caps loans at 80%, or 90% when the slice above 80% carries extra security such as insurance. On a 55 m² Warsaw flat at the Seeki.eu median of €4,101/m² as of 30 September 2026, 20% is €45,111. Add about 2% to 3% in purchase taxes and fees.

Can I get a Polish mortgage if I earn in euros?

Often, but the loan is typically in złoty, so your payment in euros moves with the exchange rate. Recommendation S defines a loan in a currency other than your income as a foreign-currency exposure. If your household earns in two currencies, the bank assumes the smaller currency has lost 50% of its value when testing affordability. A 10% weaker euro raises a 5,075 zł payment from €1,163 to €1,292.

Do foreigners need a permit to buy an apartment in Poland?

Usually not. EEA and Swiss citizens need no permit at all. Other foreigners are exempt when buying a self-contained apartment, known as a samodzielny lokal mieszkalny, under the Act of 24 March 1920. The exemption doesn't apply in the border zone, the strefa nadgraniczna. Houses and land need a permit from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration unless you meet the residence conditions.

What are mortgage interest rates in Poland in 2026?

The average rate on new złoty home loans to Polish households was 6.00% in July 2026, according to European Central Bank interest-rate statistics compiled with the National Bank of Poland. Your own quote depends on the bank's margin and your file. Every Seeki.eu listing for sale shows an estimated monthly payment at the country's latest average rate, with the deposit, rate and term adjustable.

How do I estimate the monthly payment on a Polish flat?

Open any Seeki.eu listing for sale and go to its Financing section. It shows an estimated monthly payment at Poland's latest average mortgage rate, starting at 20% down over 30 years. Seeki.eu's mortgage calculator opens Poland at 25 years, the term Polish banks test your creditworthiness on whatever term you choose. On a 55 m² Warsaw flat at the median, that's about €1,163 a month.

Sources

• Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), Recommendation S on good practices for mortgage-secured credit exposures, as amended in June 2023: the 80% and 90% loan-to-value limits and eligible extra security (Recommendation 15.5), the 50% depreciation assumption for second-currency income (Recommendation 6) and for cash collateral in another currency, the 25-year recommended and 35-year maximum term with 25-year creditworthiness testing (Recommendation 7), the 40% and 50% debt-to-income thresholds (Recommendation 9.3), and the definition of a foreign-currency credit exposure.
• Act of 24 March 1920 on the acquisition of real estate by foreigners, consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2017, item 2278: the permit requirement and its two-year validity, the voidness of a purchase made without a required permit, the apartment and garage exemptions, the border-zone exception, the residence and marriage exemptions, and the EEA and Swiss exemption.
• European Central Bank, MFI interest rate statistics for Poland, new złoty loans to households for house purchase, compiled by the National Bank of Poland: 6.00% for July 2026, the latest month published on 30 September 2026.
• European Central Bank, euro foreign exchange reference rate for the złoty: 4.3653 zł per euro on 29 September 2026.
• National Bank of Poland, published base interest rates: the 3.75% reference rate in force since 5 March 2026.
• Seeki.eu listings data, 30 September 2026: median asking price per square metre of apartments for sale, €4,101/m² in Warsaw and €3,614/m² in Kraków. Asking prices, not recorded sales.