A shelter and a place of emergency shelter are two different things
From January 1 this year, the provisions of the Act on Civil Protection and Civil Defense have been in force, which require that the underground floors of new buildings - including multi-family buildings - be designed in a way that allows for the organization of places for emergency shelter. However, it is worth remembering that a place of temporary shelter is not automatically a shelter. A shelter is a hermetic protective structure, equipped with, among others: in the filter ventilation system. Concealment provides protection, but does not have to be airtight. A place of temporary shelter is, in turn, intended to temporarily hide people in crisis - e.g. during an air threat or extreme weather phenomena.
In practice, for some buyers, an underground garage or a properly prepared space in the building may become an additional advantage of the investment. However, the word "shelter" in the developer's advertising alone should not end the conversation.
A new report published by the website RynekPierwotny.pl shows that a new and increasingly common criterion deciding on the purchase of an apartment - apart from the square footage, price, communication, balcony, proximity to schools or shops - may be the question of where the nearest place of shelter is in the event of an emergency.
You should not expect that the proximity of the shelter will immediately appear in price lists next to the floor, balcony and parking space. There is too little comparable data and the level of protection of individual facilities varies greatly. However, it can be expected that security will gradually become one of the elements of location quality - especially in eastern Poland and in the vicinity of infrastructure of strategic importance - analyzes Rynek Powotny.
The website's expert indicates that the recent alarms in the Lublin region and Podkarpacie were a test not only of the military and notification systems, but also of the everyday resilience of cities, communes and buildings.
They showed that there remains an organizational gap between sending a message and providing residents with protection. Availability may turn out to be as important as technical parameters. Some potential places of shelter are located in private buildings, garages with gates or rooms available only to users of a specific facility. The purchase of a parking space should not be interpreted as an automatic reservation of a place in the shelter. On the other hand, the lack of your own parking space does not necessarily mean that you are excluded from using the protective function - you can read in the Primary Market report.
The service expert also reminds that the slogan "garage prepared for crisis situations" requires clarification. The buyer should know whether it is a professional protective structure, an organized place for temporary shelter, a point of refuge, or only construction solutions allowing for future adaptation of the space.
This is worth finding out
When considering a purchase, you can ask about several specific issues, for example:
