The end of the double agent commission — what Poland's draft law means for buyers

On 23 June 2026, Poland's Ministry of Development and Technology entered a draft bill into the government's legislative work registry that could change how you pay an agent when buying a flat. The core of it is simple: an agent will no longer be able to take a fee from both sides of the same transaction. They'll have to choose whom they represent — the seller or the buyer.

For a market where charging "commission from both sides" was a quiet standard for years, this is potentially the biggest shake-up of the rules since the profession was deregulated in 2014. In this article we explain what exactly changes, how much commission really costs, and — most importantly — what it all means for you if you're looking for a flat right now.

What "double commission" is and why it's controversial

The classic setup looks like this: the seller signs a brokerage agreement with an agency and agrees to pay a commission for finding a buyer. The agency lists the property. You show up — the buyer. And here many agents say: "to show you the flat and handle the deal, sign an agreement with me and pay a commission too."

The result is that the same agent, on the same transaction, takes money from both sides at once. The problem isn't the fee itself — it's the conflict of interest. The agent is paid a percentage of the price, so financially they want the price to be as high as possible. That's the seller's interest. And you, the buyer, are paying someone who structurally sits on the other side of the table.

That conflict is exactly what the ministry wants to cut out. The bill's rationale states it plainly: the goal is to eliminate situations where an agent "represents" both sides even though their interests are opposed.

How much commission really costs

Rates aren't set by law and are negotiable, but the 2026 market is fairly predictable. A typical commission is 2-3% net of the transaction value per side (you'll see a range from 1.4% up to 5%). The agent adds 23% VAT to every amount — easy to forget when budgeting.

Here's what that means in złoty — money you, as the buyer, actually pay on top of the flat's price:

Flat price	Commission 2% + VAT	Commission 3% + VAT
500,000 zł	~12,300 zł	~18,450 zł
700,000 zł	~17,220 zł	~25,830 zł
900,000 zł	~22,140 zł	~33,210 zł

And remember — that's just your half. In the double-commission model the seller pays the same again (or more), so on a 700,000 zł flat an agent can collect a combined 35,000-50,000 zł from a single deal.

💡 Tip: Commission is almost always quoted net. Before you size up your buying budget, add 23% VAT to it and treat it as part of your transaction costs — alongside the 2% PCC transfer tax, the notarial fee and the land registry filings.

What the draft bill actually changes

The draft amendment to the rules on real estate brokerage is more than just the double-commission ban. The key points:

• A ban on fees from both sides. The agent picks one party to the contract and only charges them. No more "both buyer and seller pay."
• A ban on listing before signing with the owner. A property can't be advertised until the agent has signed an agreement with someone who actually holds rights to it — a blow to "ghost listings."
• Mandatory labelling of listings. Every agent-posted listing must be clearly marked as an agency offer, not "selling directly."
• A ban on conditioning viewings on a contract. An agent won't be able to require you to sign a brokerage agreement before they'll show you the flat.
• A duty to verify the legal and factual status of the property, plus clear, transparent service agreements.
• A stronger Trade Inspection (Inspekcja Handlowa). It gets expanded powers: fines, cease-and-desist orders, and in extreme cases a ban on operating as an agent.

Just as telling is what the bill doesn't include: the ministry is not introducing a statutory cap on commission percentages. That option was considered and ultimately dropped. The size of the commission will still be a matter of contract and negotiation.

💡 Important: This is still a draft, entered into the government's work registry on 23 June 2026. The plan is for it to reach the Council of Ministers in Q3 2026 and then the Sejm. The road to it actually taking effect is long — consultations, the parliamentary process, vacatio legis. It doesn't change your transaction today. But it shows where the market is heading.

What it means for you as a buyer

At first glance it sounds like a clean win: if you don't pay commission, you keep 20,000-30,000 zł. Often that will be true. But there's a flip side worth knowing before you call it settled.

After the change, the agent will represent one side. And on the secondary market, it's almost always the seller who has the agreement with the agency — because they're the one commissioning the sale. So in most deals the agent will formally and financially be working for the seller. For you, that means two things:

1. You'll stop paying commission — a real saving.
2. You'll have no one "on your side" by default. The agent looks after the interest of whoever pays them. If the seller pays, the agent's interest is to sell you the flat for as much, and as fast, as possible.

In other words: the law removes the conflict of interest, but it doesn't remove the information asymmetry. The seller still sets the price by looking at other listings (other people's wishful thinking), and you still don't know that three similar flats in the same building just sold for 8% less. An agent — even the most honest one — is not a valuer and won't hand you an independent valuation based on transaction prices.

What this change doesn't solve

Let's be clear: scrapping the double commission doesn't make the asking price fair. A flat listed at 20,000 zł/m² in a district where the transaction median is 17,500 zł/m² is overpriced no matter who pays whom.

The problem that stays on the buyer's side is the same, oldest problem of Poland's housing market: you don't know what the flat should actually sell for. Transaction prices (from notarial deeds, collected in the state RCN registry) are public, but scattered, delayed by several months and awkward to access. Most buyers negotiate by gut, because there's no hard data at hand.

And this is where the new legal reality puts it bluntly: verifying the price is your job. Not the agent's — they work for the other side. Not the seller's — they have their own interest. Yours.

How to check whether the price is real

The good news: you need neither an agent nor an expensive surveyor's report for this. The transaction data exists — it just has to be matched against a specific listing.

That's exactly why we built mieszk.pl. You paste a link to a listing from Otodom (or OLX, Morizon, Gratka), and the system compares the price against more than 7 million real RCN transactions, accounting for floor, year built, condition, district and micro-location (a 300-500 m radius). In a few dozen seconds you get an independent report: whether the listing is overpriced versus the transaction median, what flats in the same building sold for, how long the listing has been up, and where the red flags are.

This isn't advice or "representing your interests" — it's data, on which you make your own decision. Independent of whomever the agent represents. A report costs about as much as a couple of coffees — while commission or overpaying for a flat runs into tens of thousands of złoty.

💡 Tip: The best moment to check the price is before you sign the preliminary contract and pay the deposit. That's when you still have full room to negotiate — with numbers as your argument instead of "it feels expensive."

FAQ — common questions

Is double commission legal today?

Yes. Charging both sides is currently legal, though it has raised conflict-of-interest concerns for years. The Ministry of Development and Technology's bill aims to change that — but for now it's only a draft, not binding law.

Who pays the agent after the change?

One side — the one the agent represents. In practice, on the secondary market it will most often be the seller, since they commission the sale and sign the agreement with the agency. The final market model is yet to settle.

Will commissions drop?

Not necessarily. The law sets no percentage cap. The paying side (usually the seller) may end up paying a bit more for the "whole" service than they used to for their half — and part of that cost will still be baked into the asking price. Which is why verifying the price matters as much as ever, if not more.

Is it already in force?

No. The draft was entered into the government's legislative work registry on 23 June 2026. Adoption by the Council of Ministers is planned for Q3 2026, followed by the Sejm. It will be a while before it takes effect.

Can I verify the price without an agent?

Yes. RCN transaction prices are public, and tools like mieszk.pl deliver them as a ready report for a specific listing. To find out whether you're overpaying, you don't need a representative — you need data.

Summary

The end of double commission is good news for the buyer's wallet and a step toward a more transparent market. But it has a second layer: once the agent openly represents one side — usually the seller — no one checks for you whether the price is fair. By default there's no longer a "both-sides agent" who was (at least in theory) supposed to look out for you too.

Your edge stops being connections and becomes data. Before you sign the preliminary contract, check the listing on mieszk.pl — you'll see whether the price is real against 7 million transactions, what flats in that building actually cost, and where the hidden risks are. Because the best protection for a buyer isn't a clause in a law — it's knowing what the flat is truly worth.

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This article is informational and does not constitute legal advice. As of 24 June 2026, the bill described is at an early stage of the legislative process and its final shape may change. Sources: prawo.pl, rp.pl.