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Buying a house or plot in Poland: access road, road share and the mortgage

Why a Polish bank checks legal access to a public road before a mortgage on a house or plot, how a share in a private access road and a road easement work, and what to check before paying a deposit.

KredytPolska editorial team
Updated:

In short

A Polish bank accepts a house or plot as collateral only if it has legal access to a public road. The law knows three ways: the plot borders a public road, you own a share in a private access road, or a road easement is entered in the land register. If you buy a share in the road, banks usually want the mortgage on that share too. A track you have “always” used across a neighbour’s field, with no entry in the land register, does not count. Check it before you pay a deposit.

What counts as access to a public road

Polish planning law (art. 2 point 14 of the spatial planning act) accepts three kinds of access: direct access to a public road, access through an internal road, or a road easement (służebność drogowa). A public road is a municipal, county, regional or national road. A private estate road is an internal road, even if it is paved and has a street name. What matters is the legal title in the land register (księga wieczysta), not the fact that cars already drive there.

How banks look at it

In PKO Bank Polski’s loan application, a property without direct access to a public road must show whether access is through a road easement or through a share in the property that is the access road, with the land register number of that road. BOŚ Bank’s rules allow it to finance a share in an access road if it is the only way to a public road and you buy it together with the house, flat or plot, and the mortgage must cover your whole share. BNP Paribas lists a house or plot “together with a share in the access road” among accepted collateral. A share in a road is normal; the bank only needs to see it in the land register.

Buying a plot with a share in the road

The road usually has its own land register. The notarial deed should name both registers, the plot and the road, and the size of your share, for example 1/12. The bank can finance the share together with the plot. Under the Civil Code (art. 198) each co-owner can dispose of their share without the consent of the others, and the land register act (art. 65) allows a mortgage on a share, so the neighbours do not have to sign anything for your loan. When land is divided into building plots, each new plot must have access to a public road (art. 93 of the real estate management act), so the seller usually carves out an internal road and buyers get a share in it or an easement.

Road easement and “necessary road”

An easement gives the owner of your plot the right to drive across a neighbour’s plot and stays in force after either plot is sold. The owner granting it must sign a notarial deed (Civil Code art. 245), so verbal or simple written permission is not enough. If a plot has no adequate access and the neighbour refuses, the owner can ask a court for a paid road easement, the so-called necessary road (droga konieczna, Civil Code art. 145). That is a court case, not a formality, and until it ends the bank has nothing to check in the land register.

What to check before the deposit

Check on the cadastral map whether the plot borders a public road. Ask for the land register number of the access road and check it for free at ekw.ms.gov.pl: who owns it, what share you are buying and whether there is a mortgage in section IV. For an easement, check section III of the register of the plot you cross. Show both register numbers to the bank or a mortgage expert before you sign the preliminary agreement, and write into it that the sale includes the road share or that the seller will grant the easement.

The full description in Polish, with examples of typical problems: Udział w drodze dojazdowej a kredyt hipoteczny.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a mortgage on a plot without access to a public road in Poland?

Usually not. The bank needs legal access: the plot borders a public road, you own a share in an internal road, or a road easement is entered in the land register.

Will the bank put a mortgage on my share in the access road?

Often yes. Banks usually want the mortgage on the plot and on the road share. BOŚ Bank requires it to cover your whole share.

Is the neighbour’s permission to drive across enough?

No. Verbal or simple written permission does not pass to the next owners. You need a road easement in a notarial deed, entered in the land register.

Sources

  1. Act on spatial planning, art. 2 point 14 (Polish)
  2. Civil Code, art. 145, 198, 245 and 285 (Polish)
  3. Act on land registers and mortgages, art. 65 (Polish)
  4. BOŚ Bank: mortgage rules from 17 April 2026 (Polish)
  5. PKO Bank Polski: loan application form from 3 September 2026 (Polish)
This guide describes general rules and typical bank practice as of October 2026. Details

It is not legal or tax advice and not a bank offer. Each bank sets its own criteria, and the lending decision is always made by the bank.

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