Prices for buying and renting flats in Poland have been rising steadily for years, while the purchasing power of the average Pole has been falling. The housing crisis is causing a drop in the population in Warsaw's city centre and an increase in the suburbs, where prices are much lower. At the same time, deprived of competition from the state or local government, the property development industry seeks to maximise profits, and these are increased by the number of square metres sold. In the slang of the developers, this is called "upselling the UAF" - the usable area of the flat. Nano-lofts are a natural consequence of trends in the property development market, whose offer has recently expanded to include the so-called micro-apartments. They are tailored to the financial capabilities of most city dwellers, without the need for them to move to the suburbs. The flats, which are sold on a per-square-centimetre basis, make it possible to combine the need to own a space on one's own with the freedom to not be forced to a loan for many long years.

Marcin Jarzynowski