Compensation for Airport Noise Restriction Zones in Poland

This guide is general legal information, not legal advice. How the rules apply depends on your individual circumstances, and the matter should be assessed by a qualified Polish lawyer. Twoja Sprawa helps you organise the documents for that assessment.

Do you own a house or flat in Poland near an airport — Warsaw Chopin (Okęcie), Poznań Ławica, Kraków Balice, Modlin, or another — and have you found out that the property falls within an "obszar ograniczonego użytkowania" (area of restricted use, OOU)? This is not a mere formality. An OOU designation means the authorities have formally acknowledged that aircraft noise exceeds permitted levels — and that opens the door to compensation for the drop in your property's market value, as well as reimbursement of the cost of acoustic soundproofing (making the building sound-insulated). The legal basis is Article 129(2) of the Polish Environmental Protection Law (Prawo ochrony środowiska, POŚ). The catch is that the claim is time-limited — and many owners, particularly those living abroad, find out about the OOU designation too late. This article explains what an OOU zone is, what claims Article 129 POŚ gives you, and why the deadline matters so critically.

What is an airport noise restriction zone (OOU)

An area of restricted use is a zone established by a regional governor's regulation (rozporządzenie wojewody) or a regional assembly resolution (uchwała sejmiku województwa), issued when the airport operator (e.g. Polish Airports State Enterprise, PPL) cannot meet environmental noise standards outside its own premises — even after applying technical measures. Rather than forcing compliance with standards that cannot realistically be met, the legislator instead allows the way a property can be used to be restricted within the OOU zone (for example, a ban on building new residential buildings without soundproofing, or restrictions on development), and in exchange gives owners the right to compensation.

OOU zones have been established around Poland's largest airports, including: - Warsaw Chopin Airport (Okęcie), - Ławica in Poznań, - Balice in Kraków, - other regional airports, where noise levels justify it.

Each act establishing an OOU zone (a governor's regulation or an assembly resolution) has its own date of entry into force and its own zone boundaries — this matters, because that date is what the claim deadline runs from (see below). If you are unsure whether your property lies within an OOU zone, check the relevant legal act for that airport — published in the regional official gazette (wojewódzki dziennik urzędowy).

⚠️ The exact boundaries of OOU zones, the entry-into-force dates of the individual regulations/resolutions, and their current legal status (whether a given act has since been amended or repealed) vary by airport and require checking the specific legal act with a lawyer before submitting a claim.

What claims Article 129(2) of the Environmental Protection Law gives you

Article 129 POŚ addresses the situation where a restriction on the way a property may be used — including through the establishment of an OOU zone — causes loss to the owner. The Act provides for two main claims:

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1. Compensation for the drop in property value

If, as a result of the OOU designation, using the property or part of it in its previous way, or in a way consistent with its previous designated use, has become impossible or significantly restricted, the owner may claim compensation for the resulting loss — including for the loss of the property's market value. The mere fact that a property has been placed within an OOU zone, where the statutory conditions are met, may support a claim — even if the owner has no plans to sell, because the loss is the reduction in market value as such.

2. Reimbursement of acoustic soundproofing costs

Separately from compensation for the drop in value, an owner may claim reimbursement of costs incurred to meet the technical requirements for a building's sound insulation — the so-called acoustic revitalisation (rewitalizacja akustyczna): replacing windows with soundproof glazing, insulation, mechanical ventilation with acoustic silencers, and similar works. This claim can cover both costs already incurred and, in some interpretations, costs still to be incurred — though this requires assessment of the specific facts by a surveyor and a lawyer.

Both claims can be pursued together — the drop in property value and the soundproofing cost are separate heads of loss that do not exclude one another.

⚠️ The precise scope of what counts as acoustic soundproofing costs (for example, whether air conditioning counts as necessary once windows must stay closed) is often disputed and depends on the case law in the specific matter.

How the compensation amount is assessed

The amount of compensation cannot be stated as a fixed figure in advance — it depends on an individual valuation and a number of variables:

The key document is a valuation report (operat szacunkowy) prepared by a certified property surveyor (rzeczoznawca majątkowy) — this is what calculates the difference between the property's value without restrictions and its value once the OOU designation is taken into account. In court proceedings, a court-appointed expert in property valuation is usually instructed, and their opinion forms the basis for the judgment. We do not quote specific figures here — every case is different, and the compensation amount depends on the valuation produced in the specific proceedings.

The claim deadline — the most important trap

This is the element that decides the outcome of the whole case — and the one most often missed by owners living abroad.

Claims under Article 129 POŚ are time-limited. Under Article 129(4) POŚ, a claim for compensation or for the property to be bought out must be brought within 2 years of the date the legal act establishing the OOU zone entered into force (the governor's regulation or the regional assembly resolution for the given airport). Once that period has passed, the claim lapses — the court will dismiss the claim without examining its merits, regardless of how substantial the actual loss is.

⚠️ The exact deadline (2 years from the entry into force of the act establishing the OOU zone) needs to be confirmed for the specific airport and the specific legal act — the entry-into-force dates differ for Okęcie, Ławica, Balice, and other airports, and the acts themselves have sometimes been amended. This is make-or-break information for the whole case — before filing or dropping a claim, you must verify the exact date with a lawyer, because miscalculating the deadline can mean losing the right to compensation with no way to put it right.

For Poles living in the UK or elsewhere, this is particularly important — if you find out about the OOU designation with a delay (for example, from family correspondence, neighbours, or when checking the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta — Poland's official property register)), time to file the claim may already be running regardless of the fact that you are not physically in Poland.

What's current: more recent Supreme Court case law

It's worth knowing that the subject of compensation for airport OOU zones is actively developing in the case law — courts have repeatedly addressed how loss is calculated, the scope of acoustic soundproofing, and the relationship between compensation for the drop in value and reimbursement of soundproofing costs. There is reference to a more recent Polish Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) ruling from 2026 (reference I CSK 41/25, 25 February 2026 — to be verified), said to further clarify how compensation is assessed in this type of case. That said, this doesn't mean automatic success in every case — case law sets the direction of interpretation, but the outcome always depends on the specific facts, evidence, and valuation in that particular matter.

Pursuing a claim remotely, while living abroad

Living in the UK or another country does not prevent you from pursuing OOU compensation. In practice, the process looks like this:

  1. Power of attorney — you grant power of attorney to a Polish advocate (adwokat) or legal counsel (radca prawny — a Polish qualified lawyer, broadly equivalent to a solicitor) to represent you in the matter. For property-related acts, the power of attorney usually needs to be in notarial form — this can also be arranged abroad, for example before a UK notary or at a Polish consulate, subject to formal verification by a lawyer.
  2. Gathering documents — proof of ownership, an extract from the land and mortgage register, documentation of any soundproofing works carried out (invoices, cost estimates), and ideally also the exact date the act establishing the OOU zone for that airport entered into force.
  3. Surveyor's valuation — your representative instructs a certified surveyor to prepare a valuation report, which becomes the basis for the claim.
  4. Application or claim — depending on the route, the claim is directed either straight to the airport operator or to the regional court (sąd okręgowy) with jurisdiction over the property's location.
  5. Remote participation — many Polish courts allow remote participation in hearings; your representative handles the rest of the formalities on the ground.

Before taking any formal step, it's worth having a lawyer confirm whether the 2-year deadline is still running in your case — that's the first thing to check, before you invest time in gathering documents and getting a valuation.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Is every property within a few kilometres of an airport covered by an OOU zone? No. An OOU zone covers only the area defined by a specific governor's regulation or assembly resolution — you need to check whether your plot or building falls within the boundaries set out in that act, rather than estimating "by eye" based on distance from the runway.

Will I automatically get compensation if my property is in an OOU zone? No, not automatically. Being placed within an OOU zone opens the door to a claim under Article 129 POŚ, but the amount and merits of any compensation are assessed individually — based on a surveyor's valuation and, if disputed, a court's decision.

What if more than 2 years have already passed since the act establishing the OOU zone entered into force? This is a serious situation — the statutory deadline (exact date to be verified for the specific act) may mean the claim has lapsed. Even so, it's worth discussing the case with a lawyer — in some instances, further acts amending the OOU zone boundaries may have been issued for a given airport, which opens a fresh deadline for properties newly brought within the zone.

Can I claim compensation for the drop in value and reimbursement of soundproofing costs at the same time? Yes, in principle these are two separate claims arising from the same legal basis (Article 129 POŚ) and can be pursued together — the exact scope depends on the facts and evidence in your case.

Living in the UK, can I run a case like this at all? Yes — through a representative (an advocate or legal counsel in Poland), with a notarial power of attorney. Physical presence in Poland is usually not required at every stage of the proceedings.

Free assessment of your OOU claim

Do you own property in Poland near an airport and suspect it may have been placed within an area of restricted use? Not sure whether the claim deadline is still running? Get in touch with Twoja Sprawa at twojasprawa.com. We'll connect you with a Polish advocate or legal counsel who will check your property's status, the applicable deadline, and the merits of a claim — free of charge.

Disclaimer

Twoja Sprawa (twojasprawa.com) is a platform that connects clients with regulated Polish advocates and legal counsel — it is not a law firm. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Deadlines, the scope of OOU zones, and the amount of any compensation require individual assessment by a lawyer and a certified property surveyor. We do not guarantee any compensation will be obtained, nor any particular amount — every case depends on the documentation, valuation, and the court's assessment.

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Last verified: July 2026.

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