In June of 2025, the Ministry of Construction and Transport published a draft law that would amend the government decree on the procedure for granting permits for changes of the intended purpose of commercial buildings. The original version of the decree has already required a permit for certain types of conversions of commercial buildings over 400 sqm, their separate units or sales areas, as well as for converting buildings over 400 sqm to commercial buildings.
Based on the proposed new rules, a permit may also be obtained if - after the transfer, sale or lease of the property, or after a separation within the property - the new owner or user also wishes to carry out commercial activities there, even if the permit was already granted for the building. In addition, the regulation would require a permit for the creation of separate sales areas within an existing commercial unit by using any internal partitioning solution (whether furniture or other fixtures). Although, according to store operators, there is a need for easy and quick division of store buildings, especially in large commercial units (e.g. malls) where certain areas for which a permit has already been granted, often become unused and could be given a new function, thus making them suitable for some economic purpose again.
The National Retail Association (NRA) stated that the planned amendment could paralyse not only shopping centres but the entire commercial real estate market. Commercial investments have fallen by more than 10%, the number of retail stores has decreased by 4,700 in the past year, and 400 municipalities no longer have any grocery stores at all.
According to the Ministry's announcement, the amendment aims to further clarify the cases in which a permit for change of the intended purpose must be requested. The adoption of the decree seven years ago and its several amendments were justified by the fact that these stores have a wide variety of effects on their catchment areas, which shall be considered by the authorities before the construction or development of a commercial unit can begin. In recent years, however, there have been numerous attempts to circumvent the regulations by transferring, selling, leasing or separating the properties in question – this is why the Ministry aims to amend the decree.
By Gabriella Galik, Founding Partner, KCG Partners Law Firm