This land is my land

As Delmar says in the Coen brothers' O Brother Where Art Thou?, "Hell, you ain't no kind of man if you ain't got land". Well, I gone out an' got me a whole acre of the stuff. That's another 2,000m² on top of the 2,000m² I already bought with my działka house (1 acre = 4,047.8m² ). "Buy land, they don't make it no more!" "Land is the only thing that matters; land is the only thing that counts."

I bought the adjacent plot as an investment for the future; although currently an orchard boasting 42 apple trees, it comes with permission to build 'extensive' housing (ie not more than one single-family house per 500m². Intensive housing = block of flats = no).

Below: view of both plots from the other side of the road. To the left is my original plot (the house set so far back from the road that it's not visible). The newly purchased orchard is to the right.

Below: a Sketch-up 3D model of my house, showing its situation to scale on the 4,000m² rectangle. The original fence is seen dividing the two plots, trees are omitted for clarity. The rectangle is roughly 20m wide by 200m long.

Below: view from my rear upstairs patio. To the left is an medium-tension electricity pylon that currently runs through the new plot. Beyond is the forest that lines the eastern edge of the plot.

Below: reverse-angle view; in the distance you can make out the house (repainted white when the external thermal cladding was applied). The concrete electricity pylon is visible.

What now? Well, the most important thing is to mark and fence my territory. This needs to be done by a geodeta, a legally-recognised surveyor, who will mark out the boundaries of the newly purchased plot. These will form the legal basis on which I will be able to fence off the land and in effect merge or unify the two plots as one.

Now, to do this, I need to have clear title to the land that I have bought. This has been checked by the notariusz (notary-public) in Grójec who carried out the transaction (an excellent and professional service, by the way, Magdalena Grzesik should you need a notariusz in Grójec). All is good, but the court in Grójec has to enter the transaction and with it my ownership title in the księga wieczysta (literally 'the eternal book' or land and mortgage register). This can take time! When I bought the first plot (with house), I waited between mid-November 2017 and late January 2018 for confirmation from the court that the transaction had been registered and a new księga wieczysta set up in my name. The notariusz told me that she had cases where the new owner had been waiting six months for the court to register the transaction! One way or another, I cannot summon a geodeta to measure and mark the land without a księga wieczysta in my name. So I wait.

Until then, I need to keep the existing fence to the east of my original plot, as there is no fence to the east of the new plot.

Once done, I need to keep a close eye on local development plans. A new asphalted access road to the north of the two plots that is shown on the plans would be useful, allowing easy partition of the north half of the plot into a stand-alone unit, making it easier to develop and eventually sell.

I have time, I have options. The fun part will be to design and cost a new house, which, naturally, will be built to be as energy efficient as possible from the outset. Heat pumps, solar panels etc. But that is many years into the future! The opportunities are huge. In theory, I could build up to eight houses on this property (doubtful though). In the meanwhile, some landscape gardening is an interesting prospect - a small pond, small hillocks, silver birches, pines, paths running through it all...

Finally, I must say I much prefer buying property in Poland compared to the UK process. This is my fourth property purchase in Poland and each one has gone smoothly - the institution of the notariusz being better suited for the job than the English solicitor. Conveyancing UK-style, with exchange of contracts and completion and piles of extra paperwork generates stress and takes time. If there's clear title, the Polish system is straightforward and relatively inexpensive.

This time three years ago:
Preening stork

This time six years ago:
Preserving meadowland - UK and Poland 

This time seven years ago:

Poland's transport infrastructure progress

This time eight years ago:
Cara al Sol - a short story

This time nine years ago:
Pumping out the floodwater

This time ten years ago:
To Góra Kalwaria and beyond

This time 11 years ago:
Developments in Warsaw's exurbs