A place fit for the free to live in

“The porter watches over everything; He won’t let anyone get harmed; He will help anytime; O my God!” The song is about Michał Anioł, the concierge who ruled despotically over a newly-built block in an estate in Warsaw’s Ursynów district in the cult Polish comedy series Alternatywy 4. The show, which was produced in 1983 and first broadcast in 1986, actually best captures the essence of the Polish residential market following 1989. Although it will probably not mean much to Generation Y, my generation remembers those times all too well. From scratch Let’s start with the main problem in those days: the huge disproportion between the supply and the demand. The supply was basically low-quality blocks made from pre-fabricated elements. According to data provided by residential market consultancy REAS, more than 80 pct of the buildings completed in 1990 were built using pre-fab technology. These days it is apartments on estates built in this way that lose