A planned government rent assistance programme will give Poles easier access to the housing market, Polish Deputy Investment Minister Artur Soboń told Polish Radio on Friday.

Soboń said people earning below the average wage would be eligible for rent assistance and would be housed in new accommodation.

Some 30,000 families are set to have their rent subsidised for up to nine years, Soboń added.

Rentals make up only five percent of Poland's housing market, compared to a European average of 30 percent.

If the government plans are approved by both houses of parliament and the president, rent assistance could become available next year.

(vb/pk)