The choice between an apartment you can move into straight away and one bought off-plan - "from a hole in the ground" - comes down to a single variable that most guides leave out: how much waiting for the keys actually costs you. In short - a completed apartment usually wins today, if time matters to you and you want to see what you are paying for. A unit under construction comes out ahead when you have somewhere to wait it out for a year or two, and the early-stage discount genuinely exceeds the cost of that wait.

Let's start with the definitions. A move-in ready apartment already has its occupancy permit, so you can take possession and move in immediately. An apartment under construction is bought off-plan, before completion, with a handover date somewhere in the future. Below we break both options down - not just the usual pros and cons, but the full account of costs and risks.

A move-in ready apartment is the better deal for most buyers today: you move in immediately and you do not pay rent and a mortgage instalment at the same time. Choose one under construction when you have somewhere to live for a year or two and the initial discount exceeds the cost of waiting.

Move-in ready vs off-plan - a point-by-point comparison

Two things count in favour of a completed apartment: time, and the fact that you are buying something that already exists and can be inspected. Off-plan buying offers wider choice, the option to personalise and a lower entry price. The table below sets the two against each other.

One caveat, though: "ready" does not always mean "keys the same day". If the apartment is sold in developer standard (shell and core), fitting it out will still take several weeks - we will come back to this when we discuss costs. The table shows the differences, but it will not make the decision for you. That depends on your own situation.

Who should buy move-in ready, and who should buy off-plan?

Three questions settle the choice: how long you actually have to wait, whether you are paying rent in the meantime, and how much risk you can live with. The answers line up into a simple list of situations:

If you are paying rent today and dream of no longer paying off someone else's mortgage, there are ways to move into a place of your own without the transitional period in which you pay rent and a mortgage instalment at the same time. But before we get to them, we come back to the same question anyway: which option is actually cheaper.

Is an off-plan apartment cheaper? Dismantling the myth

"Under construction is always cheaper" is the most common oversimplification on this market. The early-stage discount does exist, but its scale depends heavily on the source: Expander's experts put it at 7–10% on average, while some industry guides quote 5–15%.

For a 50 m² apartment at the average market price, a discount of 5–15% works out at roughly PLN 36,000 to 107,000 - the same order of magnitude as the cost of waiting, which we calculate in the next section. And it is that cost which decides whether anything is left of the saving. Sometimes there is no discount at all, because the old rule of "the earlier, the cheaper" has stopped applying: in Warsaw, apartments at the earliest construction stage reached PLN 16,500/m², while units ready for handover were selling at PLN 12,600/m².

The claim that "under construction is always cheaper" does not hold up in 2026. The discount at the start is usually 5–15%, but it melts away once you add the cost of waiting - and in Warsaw, completed apartments can be cheaper than a "hole in the ground".

How much does waiting for an off-plan apartment cost?

This is the heart of the whole dilemma - and a cost that the price per square metre simply does not show. When you buy a "hole in the ground", you usually fall into the double-cost trap: throughout the construction period you pay rent, because you have to live somewhere, and at the same time you service the interest on the mortgage tranches as they are released. On top of that comes bridge insurance - an increased margin the bank charges until your mortgage is entered in the land and mortgage register (and that entry itself often takes several months). A completed apartment generates none of these items, because you have the keys from day one.

One distinction is worth making before you start adding up: an instalment is not the same as a cost. The capital comes back to you as the value of the apartment - the real expense is the interest, plus the fact that for a year or two your money is working for the developer rather than for you. Here is how it works out for an apartment of about 50 m² and a build lasting 18–24 months.

(An illustrative calculation for a mortgage of about PLN 500,000 at roughly 6.5%. Interest rises as successive tranches are released; the rent and bridge-insurance rates are real market ranges.)

Waiting for an apartment under construction - rent, interest on tranches and bridge insurance - costs in the region of PLN 60,000–125,000 for about 50 m² over an 18–24 month build. A completed apartment has no such cost.

Now set that figure against the discount you get for buying at an early stage. It usually runs to somewhere in the tens of thousands of złoty - roughly the amount in the first row of the table above. We set out the full account of both options in the next section.

How to reduce that cost to zero

Since the bill for waiting comes from living somewhere else while repaying a loan before you move into your own place, the simplest answer is to cut the wait to zero - that is, to buy a completed apartment. That cost then disappears from the calculation entirely.

You can go one step further and remove the cost of waiting for the mortgage itself. Let's compare both options over the same 18 months:

• An off-plan apartment: for 18 months you pay rent on someone else's apartment, interest on the released tranches and bridge insurance - PLN 60,000–125,000 that is gone for good, and you live somewhere else the whole time.
• A move-in ready apartment under deferred payment: you live in your own place from day one, and the only non-recoverable cost is the rent of about PLN 1,000 a month, roughly PLN 18,000 over the whole period. The instalment and your down payment go towards your own apartment, not somebody else's.

Over that single period the difference runs into tens of thousands of złoty - in your favour. This is exactly how the "Live with Deferred Payment" programme from J.W. Construction works; we describe it step by step further on.

The cost of moving in, not the price per square metre

So let's set the two options side by side, from the list price all the way to the moment you actually live there. Most items are identical in both cases and simply cancel out - only two decide the outcome: the discount on the price of the apartment and the cost of waiting. Take a 50 m² unit and a typical discount of PLN 40,000 for buying at construction stage.

(Base price: PLN 14,245/m² - the average transaction price across the seven largest markets, Q1 2026, NBP data. On the primary market VAT is already included in the price; we have set out the full list of expenses in our guide to the additional costs of buying an apartment.)

The conclusion is awkward for the idea that building is cheaper: an apartment bought "from a hole in the ground" starts PLN 40,000 lower and ends up PLN 20,000–85,000 more expensive. One large item remains - the same for both options, but it is the one that decides whether "ready" really means "available now". Fit-out.

Developer standard or turnkey - what does it cost and how long does it take?

Let's start with what you are actually paying for. Developer standard (shell and core) means an apartment with screeds, plaster and utility connections, which you bring up to move-in condition yourself. A turnkey fit-out means an apartment ready to move into as soon as you take possession.

The difference is felt both in your wallet and in your calendar. Bringing a shell-and-core apartment up to standard currently costs an average of PLN 1,200–3,000/m² at basic standard, and more than PLN 3,500–4,000/m² at a higher one. For a 50 m² apartment that is PLN 60,000 to 150,000 on top of the purchase price at standard level (and more at the upper end), plus typically three to twelve months of work. The turnkey version can be 10–20% more expensive in the purchase price, but it gives you that time back - which is why ready and fitted out is the shortest route to actually living there.

Some of the apartments in the J.W. Construction offer come with a turnkey fit-out, on the argument that the cost of such a fit-out comes close to the price of developer standard. We have set out indicative turnkey fit-out rates for 2026 in a separate guide.

What to do when the developer is late handing over the apartment

You plan the fit-out yourself. The handover date - you do not, and this is where the greatest risk of building begins. This is not a marginal problem: monitoring of more than 120 developments shows that 35% of projects record a delay of over three months. It is worth knowing what you can fall back on.

The basic instrument is the contractual penalty - compensation agreed in advance for each day of delay. Beware of a common misunderstanding: the Developer Act does not dictate its level; it is a clause in the contract. It typically falls within 0.01–0.03% of the value of the apartment per day, which for a PLN 400,000 unit means PLN 40 to 120 for every day. Where the contract is silent on penalties, you are entitled to compensation at the statutory interest rate.

If the delay drags on, the path looks like this:

1. Check the contractual penalty clause and the ownership transfer date in your developer contract.
2. Serve written notice on the developer and charge the penalty for the period of delay.
3. Where ownership is not transferred on time, set an additional 120-day deadline. Once it passes without effect, you may withdraw from the contract while retaining your claim to the penalty for the period of delay.
4. Demand the return of your payments (the developer has 30 days to do so) and, over and above the contractual penalty, compensation for actual losses such as continued rent or interest on tranches, under Articles 471 and 484 of the Civil Code.

None of this applies when you buy a completed apartment with an occupancy permit - the handover date is already behind you. You will find the details in our guide to the procedure for reporting defects and faults.

Buyer protection: what the Developer Act guarantees you

Penalties and withdrawal are a last resort. Day to day, the buyer's money is protected by several mechanisms written into the Developer Act (of 2021, with full protection of contracts from 2 July 2024), so when you pay money in during construction you are not paying it straight into the developer's pocket.

The first safeguard is the residential escrow account - a separate bank account into which your payments go. With an open account, the developer receives the money in tranches, as construction stages are completed; with a closed one, only after ownership has been transferred, which gives maximum protection. Around 90% of the market runs on open accounts, and the funds themselves are additionally covered by a Bank Guarantee Fund guarantee of up to the equivalent of EUR 100,000 in the event of the bank's insolvency.

The second layer is the Developer Guarantee Fund. It works like an emergency fund: the developer pays a contribution into it from each of your payments, and if the developer goes bankrupt or the bank running the account fails, the Fund returns the money you have paid in. The actual rates are 0.45% for an open account and 0.1% for a closed one (the Act allows up to 1% for an open account), which for a PLN 500,000 apartment means a protection cost of around PLN 2,250. The third pillar is the statutory warranty, which for real estate runs for five years under the Civil Code.

On top of this come firm procedural rules that structure the whole transaction: the construction schedule must have at least four stages (each 10–25% of costs), and the reservation fee may not exceed 1% of the price. Before you sign anything, review the current provisions of the Developer Act for 2026 and check what the information prospectus contains.

How to vet the developer and check whether the apartment really is "ready"

The law provides the framework; the rest is on you to check - and a developer's credibility and record on deadlines now count for as much as price and location. Fortunately, most of it can be verified before you reserve anything.

The status "ready" also needs checking. The key document is the occupancy permit - only that makes an apartment legally fit to live in. Look into the land and mortgage register as well, and take the technical handover seriously, ideally with an independent surveyor. Once defects are reported, the developer has 14 days to accept or reject them and 30 days to remedy those accepted. We explain how to get through this without mistakes in our guide on what to look out for at handover and in our step-by-step guide to buying an apartment.

The 2026 market: record supply of completed apartments and a buyer's market

The good news for anyone looking for an apartment right now is that ready units are unusually plentiful. At the end of 2025, completed apartments accounted for one in three homes in developers' offers - 38,800 units out of a total offer of 123,800, compared with one in four a year earlier. Across the seven largest markets the offer grew by 16% year on year and the pool of completed apartments almost doubled; by mid-2026 their share had already reached about 37% (roughly 44,700 units), against a mere 12–14% three years earlier.

For a buyer this is an unusually favourable position. With such a surplus, developers are more willing to come down on price and throw in a parking space or a fit-out package, particularly for the last units in completed developments. The old drawback of completed apartments - that "only the large and expensive ones are left" - is also disappearing: the full range of sizes is available.

At the end of 2025, one in three apartments in developers' offers was already ready for handover (38,800 out of 123,800); a year earlier it was one in four. Record supply is tilting the market towards the buyer.

With one caveat: the picture differs between cities and will not last indefinitely. The surplus is most visible in Łódź and Poznań (about 37% ready), least so in Gdańsk (about 15%); Warsaw sits in the middle at around 23%. Demand, meanwhile, is rebounding - in Q1 2026 the number of transactions rose by 52.9% year on year, and PKO BP forecasts price growth of 3–4% over the year. Completed apartments will therefore become scarcer, and that particular trend works against the buyer: today's negotiating advantage comes from the surplus, and the surplus is shrinking. Record supply is a window that favours you now - not a state of affairs you can count on indefinitely.

How and where to look for completed apartments available now

With so many completed apartments on the market, the trick is finding the right one. The simplest starting point is the "ready for handover" status filter on new-build portals and developers' own websites. In listing descriptions, look for phrases such as "last units" and "last minute" - a sign of a completed development with the remainder of its pool still available. Before you accept that an apartment really is available immediately, run through a short list:

• set the status filter to "ready for handover";
• ask about the occupancy permit, because without it you cannot take possession;
• check whether the apartment is in developer standard or turnkey - that is a difference of several weeks of work;
• establish whether any construction stages are still under way in the same development;
• view the actual apartment, not a "brochure" visualisation.

Where to buy a move-in ready apartment? The J.W. Construction offer, city by city

If this article has left you leaning towards a completed apartment, below you will find completed J.W. Construction developments with units awaiting handover - ready to view and take possession of without waiting for a build.

Check availability and prices against the current offer - the pool of remaining units changes as they sell.

And if you would rather choose your floor and layout, and have somewhere to wait out the build, further stages are under way in Warsaw and Szczecin:

The apartments in Warsaw, Szczecin, Chorzów and near Kraków come with a turnkey fit-out, so the cost and the several months of work described above simply fall away - you take possession of an apartment ready to move into. In Szczecin, Chorzów and Zawada you can also view a show apartment and see exactly the standard you are buying. Selected developments are also available with a 0% down payment mortgage.

Move in now without paying twice - "Live with Deferred Payment"

Instead of paying rent and servicing mortgage interest at the same time, before you even collect the keys to a place of your own, the "Live with Deferred Payment" programme from J.W. Construction lets you live in your own apartment from day one, with up to 18 months to arrange the mortgage.

In practice it works like this:

1. You choose a completed apartment from the offer and pay in about 20% of its value.
2. You move in straight away - the apartment is ready.
3. You have up to 18 months to obtain a mortgage.
4. During that time you pay monthly rent of about PLN 1,000 plus an instalment calculated individually, based on the value of the apartment.
5. Once the mortgage comes through, you complete the purchase, with no period of double payments.

A related benefit is the turnkey fit-out - you do not lose further months to renovation after handover. A completed apartment, fitted out and with deferred payment, eliminates the entire period in which your budget carries two burdens at once. The programme covers selected completed developments, including Osiedle Nad Odrą in Szczecin, Osiedle Kościuszki in Chorzów and Na Wzgórzach near Kraków; the terms and the list of units are on the programme page.

Move-in ready or off-plan - the verdict

There is no single answer for everyone, but for most buyers in 2026 the balance tips towards a completed apartment. You move in sooner, you buy with less risk, record supply gives you plenty to choose from, and you do not bear the cost of waiting. Buying off-plan pays off when you have somewhere to live, you care about a particular layout or floor, and the discount at the start genuinely exceeds the price of waiting.

There is no single answer, but for most buyers today the completed apartment wins: faster, safer and with no cost of waiting. Buying off-plan pays off when you have somewhere to live and the discount genuinely exceeds the price of waiting.

Whatever you choose, follow one principle: look at the total cost of moving in, not the list price per square metre. Once you have worked it through to the end, the choice usually becomes obvious.

Frequently asked questions

Should I buy a move-in ready apartment or an off-plan one - which pays off more?

It depends on what you value most: time, price or peace of mind. A completed apartment gives you a quick move-in, certainty and the chance to inspect the property; an off-plan purchase tempts you with a lower entry price and wider choice, but at the cost of waiting and risk. In 2026, with record supply of completed apartments and a real cost of waiting, the completed apartment wins more often.

When is it worth choosing a move-in ready apartment, and when an off-plan one?

A completed apartment works when time matters to you (2–8 weeks to moving in), when you want peace of mind and the chance to view the property before buying. Buying off-plan makes sense when you have somewhere to live for 12–30 months, want a specific layout or floor, and can genuinely negotiate a lower price. In short: move-in ready means speed and certainty, off-plan means price and choice.

Is an off-plan apartment always cheaper? By how much?

Not always. The early-stage discount can be real - 7–10% according to Expander, 5–15% in some industry guides - but it is not a rule. In Warsaw, apartments at the earliest construction stage were at times more expensive (PLN 16,500/m²) than units ready for handover (PLN 12,600/m²), and the cost of waiting often swallows the entire apparent saving. What counts is the total cost, not the price per square metre.

Is a move-in ready apartment the safer choice?

In terms of timing risk - yes, because the threat of delays and non-completion disappears and you can inspect the property before buying. You still need to check the occupancy permit, the land and mortgage register and the technical handover; a five-year statutory warranty also applies. When buying under construction, you are in turn protected by the Developer Act, the escrow account and the Developer Guarantee Fund.

How much does fitting out cost - developer standard or turnkey?

Fitting out a shell-and-core apartment yourself costs an average of PLN 1,200–3,000/m² at standard level and PLN 3,500–4,000+/m² at the upper end - for 50 m², that is PLN 60,000 to 150,000 at standard level plus several months of work. The turnkey version can be 10–20% more expensive in the purchase price, but it lets you move in as soon as you take possession. More in our guide to turnkey fit-out costs in 2026.

Are there many completed apartments available now, and in which cities?

Yes, a record number. Across the seven largest markets, completed apartments account for about 24% of the offer, against 12–14% three years ago, and nationwide the figure is around 44,700 units (about 37% of the offer). The largest share of completed apartments is in Łódź and Poznań (about 37%), followed by Katowice, Kraków and Wrocław; the fewest are in Gdańsk (about 15%).

How long does handover take and when can I move in?

For a completed apartment, usually 2–8 weeks from signing the contract and taking possession. The procedure itself is regulated: the developer has 14 days to accept or reject reported defects and 30 days to remedy those accepted. The condition for moving in is the building's occupancy permit.

What should I do if the developer is late handing over the apartment?

Start with the contractual penalty clause in your contract (typically 0.01–0.03% of the value per day; the Act does not set the rate). Where ownership is not transferred on time, set an additional 120-day deadline, after which you may withdraw from the contract and recover your payments. Over and above the contractual penalty, you may pursue compensation for actual losses (Articles 471 and 484 of the Civil Code).

A move-in ready apartment from a proven developer

When you go for an apartment available now, what counts is the developer's experience and a real pool of completed units. J.W. Construction has been on the market for over 33 years, with more than 35,000 apartments and 640 houses sold across 19 cities and close to 100 multi-stage projects to its name. Successive stages of its estates are delivered on a rolling basis - the ninth stage of Villa Campina was handed over in March 2024 - and its own prefabrication plant in Tłuszcz allows the company to keep a tighter grip on the construction schedule.

The purchase is also supported by an in-house mortgage brokerage arm (including for the Family Housing Loan), and selected developments are available with a 0% down payment mortgage and the "Live with Deferred Payment" programme. If you are considering a completed apartment, check the current list of units available now and book a viewing - and for financing questions, see our guide to mortgage brokerage services.