What Renters Can Do When Leases End Amid Warsaw’s Tight Supply

Around 8,000 Warsaw renters this month face an expiring lease—and for many, lining up a next home will be anything but simple. Rental inventory fell again in June, heating competition as students, expats and working professionals jostle for keys in Poland’s most expensive housing market.

Longtime tenants in Mokotów or Śródmieście accustomed to cordial annual renewals are now receiving notices of rent hikes as high as 15%, or told flats will be sold outright. Agents from Metrohouse and Otodom confirm this year’s ‘summer shock’ began weeks earlier than usual. “If you haven’t started the search by now, it’s already tough,” says a private letting agent who manages units off ul. Marszałkowska.

Tight Choices From Ochota to Ursynów

This squeeze didn’t come out of nowhere. Warsaw’s population keeps growing: recent figures from Urząd Statystyczny w Warszawie showed net migration added roughly 18,000 residents in 2025, bulging the capital’s ranks past 1.85 million. Developers delivered just over 9,500 new flats citywide last year, fewer than the 2021 peak and well below projected demand. Meanwhile, more private landlords are putting flats on the sales market, especially in popular areas such as Powiśle and Wilanów, seeking to capitalize on high prices that topped 18,200 zł per sqm in the center, according to Nieruchomości Warszawskie.

For a typical two-room flat in Saska Kępa or Muranów, rents posted in late June averaged 4,600 zł a month—up 8% from a year earlier. Listings on Gumtree and Otodom often vanish in hours. The squeeze is even more acute for renters seeking apartments under 3,500 zł in Praga-Północ, with waiting lists reported by several agencies.

Housing groups like Stowarzyszenie Mieszkańców Warszawy note the city-run Mieszkanie na Start program has only added a few hundred affordable units since 2023, barely making a dent. For most, buying remains a long shot: mortgage rates above 7% and median prices exceeding 14,000 zł/sqm in Wola and Ochota put ownership out of reach for single-income households.

Options for Tenants Caught in the Crunch

So what can renters do? Local advisers recommend starting lease renewal talks three months in advance. “If your landlord suggests an increase, negotiate—offer to sign a longer lease or prepay several months to lock in a rate,” says a property manager who works on ul. Grzybowska. Check listings early in the week before viewings fill up. Consider alternative neighborhoods: Żoliborz and Bielany still offer relative bargains and better availability for young professionals.

Some tenants are banding together. Shared flats, once mostly for students, are surging among young workers relocating to the capital. Digital platforms like Flatcare.pl help match prospective roommates—often the only realistic way to remain within 30 minutes of centrum without blowing a full salary on housing.

For those truly stuck, the city’s advisory offices (Miejski Ośrodek Pomocy Społecznej) can help with applications for emergency accommodation or rental supplements, though waiting times are long this summer. Meanwhile, both Otodom and Gumtree advise activating instant alerts, and recommend submitting applications with scanned documents ready within minutes.

With supply likely to stay tight at least through year’s end, flexibility will be key for Warsaw’s renters through the fiercely competitive late summer season.