Minister Bačić – Reducing the Physical Planning Act to the issue of mobile homes is, in my opinion, inappropriate and improper, as the Act addresses the entire territory of Croatia

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets Branko Bačić discusses new solutions of the legislative reform package on physical planning and construction, as well as the Ministry’s programmes, in an interview with Hina.

Has the Physical Planning Act caused a rift between you and Minister of Tourism Tonči Glavina? It turns out that defining mobile homes is the main stumbling block.

Reducing the Physical Planning Act to the issue of mobile homes is, in my opinion, inappropriate and improper, as the Act addresses the entire territory of Croatia. As far as campsites are concerned, the provisions of current law also prescribe the obligation to obtain a location permit, but through the new legislative solution we further regulate this issue. Over the past 15 years, campsites have undergone a transformation - from areas once designated for tents and RVs, they have become areas dominated by mobile homes - hence today, traditional campsites are rare. Over the last decade, a large number of mobile homes has been installed in campsites. Regardless of the fact whether this mobile home is a construction work or not, it still permanently occupies space and reduces greenery in these campsites, which are virtually becoming small settlements due to the increasing number of mobile homes. According to some poor examples, campsite occupancy reaches as much as 80%. To us, the most important matter was to include such modular prefabricated houses (mobile houses) in the campsite build-up level. Moreover, it will be further defined by the Ordinance on simple construction works. Therefore, new legislative framework clearly defines which permits are required for a campsite as a complex construction work.

When will this Ordinance be completed?

The Ordinance will be completed together with the adoption of the legislative package by the Croatian Parliament. The current Act envisages maximum campsite build-up level of 10% but excluding mobile homes. Once you obtained a use permit for the campsite, you could place mobile homes without restriction. There is no leniency here. We have determined the build-up level of up to 30% but, from the moment the Act enters into force, it will include mobile homes as well.

Minister Glavina de facto said that 90% of campsites and objects within them will not change even after the 10-year adaptation period. What will happen then?

A location permit will be issued, according to the new Act, and then we will see if the overall number of mobile homes together with all the other amenities exceeds the 30% of the overall build-up level. If so, the number of mobile homes will have to be reduced to 30%.

Has there been any leniency toward investors with regard to condominium conversion of tourism and hospitality construction works? Some people criticised that as well.

I haven’t heard any criticism from the tourism sector. The Institute for Tourism has completely supported our Act. We have made a concession only for certain zones with at least a five-star rating. In order to carry out the condominium conversion, 70% of accommodation capacity has to refer to hotels, so the remaining 30% of accommodation capacity referring to villas can be converted to condominiums. The entire zone has to be a single functional unit with a centralised management model through a common manager, while the purchaser of a villa or an apartment can use the villa or the apartment for their own needs for a maximum of 60 days per year.

You have highlighted complete digitisation of the entire procedure through e-Plans. Does this mean that anyone can see the changes in space at any time?

That’s correct. The Ministry has already established the Physical Planning Information System (ISPU), which currently entails 21 modules, i.e. applications, but now we take it a step further. Starting January 1, 2026, when the Act enters into force, every new spatial plan will have to be developed digitally and in a standardised way. In addition, we are continuously transforming existing spatial plans from analogue to digital form. We expect the entire transformation process to be completed over the next two years. All the plans will be straightforward, which is not the case now. For instance, today a zoning designation in Split does not necessarily mean the same thing in Osijek.

You have also mentioned a faster issuance of building permits. How much faster it will be in comparison to the current situation?

The new legislation introduces a new feature; now the designer has the authority to initiate the entire procedure for obtaining a building permit through our ISPU system. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to wait for the competent body to initiate the procedure for obtaining special requirements and connection requirements, which could take several months in practice. The new Act significantly shortens the procedure because designers initiate it themselves. This means that, for instance for a family house, the procedure will be initiated based only on the concept design containing connection requirements and perhaps special requirements, or the consent of a conservator if the construction work is under special protection. It is to be expected that obtaining a building permit should no longer take more than a month.

The Act also introduces urban land consolidation, which is a new feature. Do you expect problems potentially arising from the right to expropriate?

Urban land consolidation does not automatically imply expropriation; it is rather a legal tool. As a result of land fragmentation and a large number of plots not matching future building plots, investments virtually cannot be carried out, i.e. spatial plan provisions cannot be carried out. The new Act suggests that, if 50% and one owner submit a request, land consolidation will take place. It will be carried out by either a state-level commission or a commission at the level of a local self-government unit. This will allow the implementation of investments defined by spatial plans, whereby the consolidation will not change anything for the owners and their property, i.e. the value of the property. Apart from urban land consolidation, another new feature is that the state aims to accelerate the implementation of spatial plans through accelerating their development, and especially for lower-level plans such as urban physical planning plans. There are numerous cases where these plans are not being adopted.

How do you plan to change that?

By instructing owners of land which requires the adoption of urban plans to provide the local self-government unit with an expression of interest confirming that they truly intend to carry out the investment that the same local self-government unit has set for the area. According to the act proposal, the local self-government unit has to adopt the urban development plan within two years. If no urban development plan is adopted, then the same owners-investors can submit a request for obtaining a building permit to the Ministry based on the higher-level plan also adopted by the same local self-government unit. In this way, the state, i.e. the Ministry, does not change the use of space determined by the local self-government unit, but it encourages implementation of the same plans.

Don’t you think that now you will be accused for “overriding” local self-government units?

If there really is one or two investors interested in a location with no urban development plan adopted, I don’t see why the investment should wait 20, 30 years for the plan to be adopted. Without its adoption, if the zone is not equipped infrastructurally, nothing can be built. I believe the two-year period is adequate for local self-government units to adopt a lower-level plan. A question can arise as to whether a city or a municipality has sufficient funds for equipping the zone infrastructurally. In that case, we have prescribed by law that infrastructure can be built by a private investor as well, and that that investment will be deducted from utility charges, as the investor invests in infrastructure that is not theirs but is rather a public good of the local self-government unit.

When will the e-Spatial Inspection, a satellite survey of on-site conditions, become operational in order to immediately detect illegal construction?

The e-Spatial Inspection module development is in its final stage. The satellite survey is currently nearing completion. The “digital inspection” system will be integrated into our physical planning information system (ISPU), and it will enable everyday monitoring and registering of changes on the ground. Since ISPU already includes data on all of Croatia, i.e. of every plot for which a building permit had been issued, this module will recognise any illegal construction. If something changes on a plot with no building permit, it will immediately trigger an alert, which will be delivered to both the local municipal inspector and the construction inspector.

When could it become fully operational?

When the Act enters into force, the next step is the Government’s Regulation on the physical planning information system, which will also go through public consultation. We could adopt the Regulation by June. At the same time, fine tuning of the application is in progress. The system is planned to become fully operational during next year.

You advocate for all illegal construction to be considered a criminal offence. When do you expect it to be introduced into the Criminal Code?

The development of the proposal of that act is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation. In cooperation with other state authorities, and depending on the severity of the illegal project, it will be prescribed which acts will be considered criminal offence and which will remain misdemeanours. We advocate for as many cases of illegal construction as possible to be considered criminal offences. A working group has already been established, but at the moment I cannot predict the exact wording of the article of the Criminal Code. At the same time, the same act will also prescribe penalising activities leading to environmental devastation. The plan is for such amendments to enter into force during next year.

The Act on Proceeding with Illegally Built Buildings is now open for public consultation. Architects say that you have “cemented” all devastation and severe space degradation.

That’s not correct. During my first term in 2011, I suggested the possibility to legalise buildings built by June 21, 2011. At that time, I suggested aerial photogrammetric survey of the entire territory of Croatia, and that survey is still the fundamental document to determine whether it is possible to conduct legalisation. It is important to highlight that we are not talking about general legalisation, as the Act recognises numerous exceptions where it is not possible to legalise illegally built buildings - such as those located in protected parts of nature, in transport corridors, on maritime domain, or if such construction would either distort the landscape or disrupt the realisation of important infrastructural, energy and transport corridors. I would also like to point out that there is no legalisation of any construction work built after said date.

Why did you remove the deadline for submitting requests? Until when will people be able to legalise their unauthorised objects if they haven’t done it so far?

It is important to clarify that, according to the 2011 Act, the fundamental criterium for legalising buildings is the final date of construction of the illegal object, not the timeframe during which the object can be legalised or the request for legalisation submitted. Besides, even under the current Act the original deadline for submitting a legalisation request is June 30, 2012, and it was later reopened from July 2017 to June 30, 2018. Today in Croatia there is a significant number of buildings built prior to June 21, 2011, which are currently outside the legal framework - for instance, no use permit can be issued, they cannot house any small sole proprietorship or family farming, they are not eligible for a bank loan - so we have decided to allow retrospective legalisation of buildings built before June 21, 2011 for which no legalisation request was submitted by June 30, 2018.

Public consultation on the Affordable Rental Programme has ended. Is the proposition that potential landlords have to prove their real estate hasn’t been used for at least two years still valid or will there be any exceptions?

The Affordable Rental Programme is envisaged to ensure affordable housing to citizens who experience difficulties paying market rent. There are approximately 600,000 vacant apartments in Croatia, built for residential purposes but not used. The goal of the programme is to activate 9,000 housing units to provide the most vulnerable groups with a roof over their heads. Eligible apartments have to have been vacant for at least two years, which prevents possible misuse. In this way we avoid the situation where a rented apartment would be vacated solely because the state offers the possibility of entering the programme, after which the landlord would seek rent subsidies from the state budget. The two-year period allows us to ascertain the apartment is truly vacant. We have received suggestions on possible exceptions through the process of public consultation, and we will consider it.

Will the HEP (electricity) bill still be considered proof the apartment has not been used? Some people object to it, saying that they occasionally enter the real estate for maintenance.

Yes, the HEP bill will be one piece of evidence but not the only way to confirm the apartment has truly been vacant.

How many such apartments do you expect on the market?

Our plan is to activate 9,000 apartments through this programme. However, the National Housing Policy Plan of the Republic of Croatia until 2030 also envisages construction. Once the Affordable Housing Act enters into force, the plan is to build additional 8,000 apartments. This is the number of buildings APN was able to build with local self-government units in 23 years, and this is how many we plan to build over the next five years. In addition, we are confident the new Building Act and the new Physical Planning Act, together with the introduction of the urban project, will also encourage private investors to build housing units for affordable housing.

What would motivate private investors if we know how much they can get for their apartments, considering the prices?

We believe private investors would find it acceptable if the state or a local self-government unit ensured infrastructure, connections and land under more favourable conditions. As compensation for the state, city or municipal investment, a certain number of apartments would be designated for affordable housing. This could be realised by a contract between the investor and the local self-government unit. A similar model already applies in the area of Sisak-Moslavina County, where we build 36 out of a total of 59 multiapartment buildings together with local self-government units.

Public consultation on the programmes for renovating façades and installing elevators has ended. What are your expectations? We know there are often snags with co-owners mostly because there is not enough money.

These are two completely new programmes adopted on the basis of the new Act on Building Management and Maintenance. The Programme for renovating façades is aimed to encourage building owners to renovate façades and frontages, which improves visual identity of cities and at the same time preserves cultural and architectural heritage. I would like to point out that these are protected historical cores which are often neglected, unsuitable and frequently even dangerous for owners and passers-by. They will be the first to undergo reconstruction. The Ministry will publish a public call at the beginning of next year, so local self-government units which are willing to collaborate with the state and participate in the programme by 33% will apply. In other words, frontages will be financed by 33% by the state, 33% by the LSGU and the remaining 33% will be covered by co-owners. With regard to the Programme for installing elevators, it has been developed because many multi-floor buildings in Croatia do not include elevators, which in turn makes life harder for persons with disabilities, the elderly, parents with small children and other people with reduced mobility. The goal of the programme is to increase building accessibility and improve housing quality, with the support of the state and the local community. The Republic of Croatia cofinances one third of the overall project value, and local self-government units are invited to participate and further contribute financially. The remaining costs will be covered by co-owners. We have ensured funds in the state budget, and we plan to allocate funds for elevators and frontages for next year as well.

When will all private houses damaged by the earthquake be fully reconstructed?

According to the Reconstruction Plan developed by the Ministry, we envisage that by 2030 the entire reconstruction process will be completed. Most public buildings will be completed by the end of June 2026. This timeframe is essential, and we keep up with it, as we rely on funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Interviewer: Anka Bilić Keserović

Source: HINA/MPGI
 

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