Last Saturday, President Andrzej Duda signed the act of 12 March 2022 on assistance provided to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict in the territory of Ukraine. The new solutions have already entered into force and, as a rule, will be effective retroactively as of 24 February 2022. As we have already indicated, the provisions of the act guarantee financial support for those who host Ukrainian families. On 15 March 2022, the Council of Ministers issued an ordinance specifying the maximum amount of the cash benefit for providing accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens, as well as the conditions for granting the benefit and extending the term of payment. Below, we are presenting a summary of the introduced regulations.

Subsidy for persons hosting Ukrainian families

The act stipulates that any entity, in particular a natural person running a household, who will provide accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens coming to the territory of the Republic of Poland directly from the territory of Ukraine in connection with the military operations, may be granted a cash benefit, upon request.

The benefit will be paid for the period of actually providing the accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens, as a rule for a maximum of 60 days. In justified cases, the period of benefit payment may be extended, with the consent of the voivode. Persons hosting Ukrainian citizens will first have to bear the costs themselves, and then they will receive the benefit, because the money will be paid in arrears.

The ordinance of the Council of Ministers has confirmed the earlier assurances of the government with regard to the amount of the financial support to be granted – PLN 40 per person per day.

The amount of the benefit may be increased by the voivode, in case of:

1) having provided accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens before the entry into force of the special act, i.e. before 12 March 2022,

2) when accommodation and meals are provided to Ukrainian citizens by an organisational unit, a legal entity or an entrepreneur.

In order to receive the financial aid, a relevant application must be submitted to the commune office. The application for the cash benefit for providing accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens includes:

1. the applicant’s name;
2. the applicant’s personal identification number PESEL or tax identification number NIP;
3. indication of the period in which accommodation was provided and the number of persons accommodated;
4. name of the accommodated person and his/her PESEL number, if any;
5. the applicant’s declaration on having provided the accommodation and meals;
6. number of the bank account to which the benefit is to be paid;
7. the applicant’s declaration, made under pain of criminal liability for making false statements, that the data contained in the application is true;
8. address of the place of stay of the accommodated persons;
9. the applicant’s e-mail address and telephone number;
10. a declaration that the benefit has not been paid yet for the accommodated person in the indicated period;
11. the applicant’s declaration that no additional consideration, including rent, has been received for the period specified in item 3.

The minister in charge of public administration will define, in a separate ordinance, the precise template of the application. The application is to be considered within one month from the date of submission to the commune office. The commune may make the granting or payment of the benefit conditional on the verification of the accommodation conditions and meals. The verification will be performed by authorised local government employees. The commune will refuse to pay the benefit if the application contains untrue facts or if the accommodation conditions or meals pose a risk to human life or health.

Lifting the ban on eviction in case of lending premises, and facilitated conclusion of occasional lease agreements.

In order to encourage people to lend apartments to Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war, the Ukrainian special act has lifted the ban on eviction of tenants, which had been introduced two years earlier by the special Covid act. The change lifts the pandemic restrictions and limitations that made it difficult to remove a tenant who refuses to move out voluntarily. Article 68 of the Ukrainian special act stipulates that in case of lending a house or an apartment to Ukrainian citizens in order to temporarily meet their housing needs, the provisions of the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights or the Act on Special Solutions to Prevent and Combat Covid-19 will not apply in this situation. Therefore, the above-mentioned provision lifts the Covid-related ban on eviction when lending premises to Ukrainian citizens.

In addition, the act of 12 March 2022 on assistance provided to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict in the territory of Ukraine facilitates the conclusion of occasional leases. Article 69 of the Ukrainian special act mentions that the obligation to indicate other premises in which the tenant will be able to live after enforcing the duty to empty and hand over the premises occupied on the basis of occasional lease agreements will not apply to tenants being refugees from Ukraine and concluding occasional lease agreements.