Renting a flat in Warsaw before you arrive: from first request to the keys

Yes, an ordinary rental in Warsaw can be prepared without you being in Poland: choose the flat by video, check the owner, sign the umowa najmu in paper copies sent by courier, and pay into the account named in the lease. The exceptions are najem okazjonalny and najem instytucjonalny. Both come with a notarial deed signed by the tenant (art. 19a sec. 2 pt 1 and art. 19f sec. 3 of the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights), and a notary normally receives clients in the office. You can usually collect the keys on the day you arrive if the kaucja and the first czynsz are already paid and the protokół zdawczo-odbiorczy (handover report) is ready. Much of that depends on the owner, your bank and your journey, so arrival day should never be presented as a certainty.

This article is written by allproperty, an agency that finds flats for tenants, so the last section explains our own terms. Wherever the text says “the law requires”, a reference to the provision follows, and “usually” marks practice. We checked the provisions against the published acts on eli.gov.pl on 7 October 2026.

Can I rent a flat in Warsaw without being there?

Yes, if it is an ordinary najem. Polish law does not require you to be present when the lease is concluded: to meet the written form, each party signs its own copy and the parties then exchange the documents (art. 78 § 1 of the Civil Code). A lease of premises for longer than a year should be in writing, and if that form is missed the law treats the lease as concluded for an indefinite period (art. 660 k.c.). For a long lease, then, sign on paper rather than agreeing in a messenger app.

The formalities after you move in work differently. If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU, EFTA and Switzerland and do not yet have a PESEL number, the law requires you to appear in person both for the PESEL application (art. 18 sec. 1a of the Population Register Act) and for registering your address, the meldunek (art. 40 sec. 3). The address must be registered no later than the fourth day after you arrive (art. 41 sec. 3), unless your stay does not exceed 30 days (art. 42 sec. 2). Citizens of EU and EFTA states and of Switzerland have 30 days (art. 41 sec. 1). With the PESEL application we help and accompany you, but the decision is made by the office. The whole sequence is covered in our article on your first days in Warsaw.

Which steps can be done remotely, and which cannot?

Step	Remote?	What matters
Brief: budget, district, rooms, move-in date	Yes	The more precise the brief, the faster the shortlist
Viewing	Yes, by video	Video is no substitute for being there: noise and smells do not come through
Checking the owner	Yes	Land and mortgage register online at ekw.ms.gov.pl, ID document, the signatory’s authority
Signing the umowa najmu	Yes	Paper copies and a courier; a qualified electronic signature only if you already have one
Notarial deed, najem okazjonalny	No	Notary in person; plus an indication of another flat and its owner’s consent; kaucja up to 6 times the rent (art. 19a sec. 4)
Notarial deed, najem instytucjonalny	No	Notary in person; no replacement flat needed; kaucja up to 6 times the rent (art. 19f sec. 5)
Paying kaucja and czynsz	Yes	Bank transfer to the account in the lease
Protokół and keys	No	Done on site: the protokół is drawn up before the flat is handed over (art. 6c)

An owner may offer najem okazjonalny only if the owner is a private individual who does not rent out flats as a business (art. 19a sec. 1). The lease then comes with the tenant’s notarial deed, an indication of another flat where you could live if you were evicted, and the written consent of the owner of that flat or another person entitled to it; at the landlord’s request the signature on that consent must be notarially certified (art. 19a sec. 2). Najem instytucjonalny is the variant for landlords who let flats as a business, which can include larger rental companies. The tenant’s notarial deed is attached here as well (art. 19f sec. 3), but no replacement flat is required. In both cases the lease is void without the written form (art. 19a sec. 6, art. 19g sec. 1). Which type of lease you are offered depends on the landlord, so ask on the first call, because it decides whether you need a notary on arrival day.

A notarial deed cannot be done remotely mainly because signatures on it are made in the notary’s presence (art. 88 of the Notaries Act). If you do not speak Polish, the notary translates the deed or brings in a sworn translator (art. 87 § 1 pt 1). We explain the substance orally, but our oral translation is not a sworn translation. More in our guide to najem okazjonalny. Whether a representative can sign the deed for you is a question for the notary, ideally asked in advance.

How do I choose a flat from abroad?

We take your brief (budget, district, rooms, move-in date) and shortlist flats that match it. The online viewing is done by video and in detail: the agent asks the owner the questions you would ask, speaks to the owner directly and translates orally, which is not a sworn translation. A video does not prove that the person is entitled to rent out that flat. The call questions and a viewing checklist are in our article on viewing a flat online. If you would rather see flats yourself, you can fly in for a few viewings: that is our viewing tour, described in the article on moving to Warsaw in a week. During the tour you stay in our own flat for daily rental; you pay for it separately, on the terms of daily rental. When to start searching and how the market behaves is covered separately in the article on when to look for a flat.

How do I sign the lease from abroad?

The main route: you sign your copy and send it by courier, the owner signs theirs, and the parties exchange the documents. A qualified electronic signature is equivalent to the written form (art. 78¹ § 2 k.c.), but it makes sense only if you already have one, and it is wise to check beforehand whether a signature issued in your country is recognised in the EU. The lease is usually drafted in Polish, and we explain its content to you orally in your language. Details on signing by courier and online are in the article on remote signing.

When and to whom do I pay the kaucja and the first czynsz?

Our article on fake rental listings says that until you have seen the flat you should not pay a złoty. That rule holds in a remote deal too, but “seen” then means three things: a live video viewing from inside the flat, the owner’s right to let it checked in the księga wieczysta, and a lease signed by both sides. A transfer before the lease, whether a “reservation” or an “advance”, stays a red flag.

Pay after the owner has been checked and the lease is signed, and only to the account named in the lease. The Warsaw police advise paying only when you receive the keys; from abroad that is not always possible, so ask whether the owner will accept payment on the move-in day. Do not pay through a link from a messenger. The order of payments and the difference between zadatek, zaliczka and kaucja are explained in the article on paying before you arrive. By law a kaucja may not exceed twelve times the monthly czynsz (art. 6 sec. 1), or six times for najem okazjonalny (art. 19a sec. 4) and najem instytucjonalny (art. 19f sec. 5). The owner must return it within a month of the flat being vacated, less what you owe under the lease (art. 6 sec. 4; for najem okazjonalny art. 19a sec. 5, for najem instytucjonalny art. 19f sec. 6). International transfers can take several working days (our estimate), so pay well before your flight rather than the evening before.

What happens on arrival day: the meeting, the protokół, meters and keys?

The law asks for one thing here: before the flat is handed over, the parties draw up a protokół describing the technical condition and wear of the installations and equipment, and it becomes the basis for settling accounts when the flat is returned (art. 6c). Everything below is practice, and the way the day goes with us. The usual order is this.

1. The meeting. The agent meets you at the station or airport; the place and time are agreed beforehand.
2. The ride to the flat. We agree in advance how you get there and who pays for the ride. The owner or a representative waits at the flat, and the representative’s authority is checked before you arrive.
3. The walk-through. The flat is compared with the video and the description, its condition is photographed and the list of contents is checked.
4. The protokół. Meter readings (electricity, water, gas, heating), the number of key sets, remotes and cards, and any defects are written down. Both parties sign two copies and the photos are attached. How to draw it up is described in the article on the protokół.
5. The keys. They are handed over after the protokół is signed.

Meldunek, PESEL and internet follow in the next few days and have their own article.

What can stop you getting the keys on arrival day?

• The payment has not arrived yet, or the owner has not confirmed it.
• The lease is not signed by both sides because the courier is late.
• The lease is najem okazjonalny or najem instytucjonalny and no notary appointment has been booked for arrival day or earlier. For najem okazjonalny the consent of the owner of the other flat must also be signed.
• The owner or representative cannot come, or cannot show documents proving the right to rent out the flat.
• The parties disagree on the protokół: a defect turns up or items from the list are missing.
• Your flight or train is late and the owner has limited time.

Whatever can be settled before departure should be: a signed lease, a confirmed payment, the date and time of the meeting, the list of contents and the owner’s contact details.

How do we organise it, and what does it cost?

allproperty finds flats for tenants and takes the deal through to the keys. We take your brief and shortlist flats that match it, run online viewings by video, speak to the owner directly and translate orally (not a sworn translation), explain the lease in your language (Ukrainian, Russian, English, Polish, German, Italian, Spanish or Turkish), and arrange to meet you at the station or airport and stay with you until you have the keys. If the deal is prepared, the keys are usually handed over on the day you arrive. After you move in, we can go with you to the office and help fill in the PESEL and meldunek documents; that help is included in the 70%, and the decision is the office’s. We cannot replace a notary or a sworn translator, and if the deal is not ready we will not promise a particular day.

The fee is 70% of one monthly czynsz najmu (the administrative rent, czynsz administracyjny, and utility payments are not counted), paid once after the umowa najmu is signed, invoiced as a faktura bez VAT. When you sign the agency agreement from abroad, these rules apply:

• Form. The agency agreement must be in writing or in electronic form, otherwise it is void (art. 180 sec. 3 of the Real Estate Management Act). From abroad that means paper copies exchanged by courier, or a qualified electronic signature. A scan or a plain e-mail meets neither form.
• Withdrawal. A consumer who concludes an agreement at a distance may withdraw within 14 days without giving a reason (art. 27 of the Consumer Rights Act). If you ask us to start work before that period ends, the law requires your express request and your acknowledgement that the right to withdraw is lost once the service is fully performed (art. 21 sec. 2, art. 38 sec. 1 pt 1). If you withdraw after we have started, you pay for what has been done up to that point (art. 35).
• Insurance. By law, a copy of the agent’s civil-liability insurance policy is attached to the agency agreement; ask for it (art. 181 sec. 3a of the Real Estate Management Act).

Send a request: move-in date, budget, district, number of rooms. 70% of one monthly czynsz najmu after the umowa najmu is signed, faktura bez VAT. Phone: +48 666 866 468.

Sources

Checked on 7 October 2026.

• Act on the protection of tenants’ rights, consolidated text Dz.U. 2023 item 725: art. 6, 6c, 19a, 19f, 19g.
• Civil Code, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 795: art. 78 § 1, 78¹, 660.
• Real Estate Management Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 399: art. 180 sec. 3, art. 181 sec. 3a.
• Notaries Act (Prawo o notariacie), consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 614: art. 2 § 3, 3 § 1, 87 § 1, 88, 94 § 1.
• Population Register Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 384: art. 18 sec. 1a, art. 40 sec. 3, art. 41 sec. 1 and 3, art. 42 sec. 2.
• Consumer Rights Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 1244: art. 12, 21 sec. 2, 27, 35, 38 pt 1.

Cover image: AI-generated illustration.