The legal environment of the Polish real estate market ñ the time of accession In every country the legal environment of the real estate market is different, which results from historical circumstances and the adoption of a specific political and economic system. In Poland today the legislation is frequently amended, mainly because of the expected accession to the EU. The changes aim at improving the functioning of the market, primarily enhancing its transparency and efficiency. The reforms are expected to increase the volume of investments. However, theory does not always translate into good practice. Until today legal problems have not been solved and they hinder the investment process. The paper identifies problems affecting the registration of the rights to real estate, land development and formation of the legal environment. Ineffective operation of the registration system impedes the transfer of rights to real estate and causes problems to establishing the collateral. Land development in Poland is utterly uncontrolled now ñ the old plans were invalidated in the beginning of 2004, and new plans are scarce. The building process, partly due to the spatial problems, is much more complicated and long. The author tries to show a possible scenario for the future.