Lease agreements for retail parks in Poland increasingly feature solutions that differ from classic Triple Net Lease agreements, particularly regarding operating cost settlement and responsibility division between parties. These trends are reshaping relationships between investors and tenants while responding to growing market expectations, explain Dominik Rafałko, Partner and Paweł Śliwka, Senior Associate at CMS Poland.

In June, Property Forum reported on a draft amendment to Hungary’s so-called “mall stop” regulation, which governs the operation of retail units larger than 400 sqm. The government has now adopted the proposal, with the new decree published in the Official Gazette on 18 August.

Wolf Theiss has announced the expansion of its Corporate and M&A team in Poland with the addition of 27 new team members, including seven partners.

The Hungarian Parliament voted in favour of the law on the public construction and investment regime with 136 votes in favour, 49 against and 9 abstentions. The law, among other things, makes the use of BIM mandatory for projects at or above the EU public procurement threshold, requires greater control over design and construction than before, and puts the whole life cycle of public works on a new footing.

Zbigniew Korba, Partner and Attorney at Law at TaylorWessing has talked to Property Forum about sustainability-liked loans, current financing conditions and the incoming changes in the spatial planning and construction law in Poland.

The planned Highest Construction Office (Nejvyšší stavební úřad) and the system of regional construction offices subordinate to it will not be established in the Czech Republic. The construction authorities will remain within the municipalities, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reports.

The Czech government wants to involve the Czech National Development Bank (NRB) in the construction of affordable rental housing. The cabinet is also planning to amend the law on the State Fund for Investment Support (SFPI), which supports housing development in the Czech Republic. This is to support the government's commitment that up to 10,000 extra rental flats could be built per year by the end of the parliamentary term. The Czech Press Agency (CTK) quotes the updated programme statement of the cabinet.

Will the non-functioning office buildings and shopping centers be taken over by residential buildings? Arguments for and against this measure are listed by Piotr Łopusiński, Associate Director, Investment at Avison Young Poland.

Newly approved building regulations in Slovakia will significantly reduce the endless waiting for building permits. Thanks to advanced digitalisation, the individual processes and the timeframes for their execution are shortened. Builders will thus be able to calculate the capital invested and the entire work schedule more accurately. Therefore, a new Office for Spatial Planning and Construction is being established as a central state administration body, as well as a specialised construction office for the so-called EIA of construction at the Ministry of the Environment, webnoviny.sk informs.

The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic has decided on a one-year postponement of the effectiveness of part of the Construction Act. Instead of the planned central construction office, which the previous government of Andrej Babiš wanted, they are preparing the digitalisation of the process, the Czech Press Agency reports.