Minister says Croatia building 2,800 homes as state plans to activate public property

Hina - Construction, Physical Planning and State Assets Minister Branko Bačić said on Wednesday that Croatia was building around 2,800 housing units intended for citizens, as the government presented its Strategy for the Management of State-Owned Real Estate and Movable Property for 2026-2035.

"Right now, our ministry is building 1,300 new housing units owned by the state, with the aim of keeping them for rent or selling them at affordable prices. In assisted areas, we are building another 500 housing units, while in Sisak-Moslavina County alone there are 1,024 units under construction, in addition to the 1,300 I mentioned," Bačić told parliament.

Bačić stressed that the state did not intend to sell off its property, adding that only unsuitable housing units, such as garages, storage spaces and attics, were being offered for sale.

State-owned company Državne nekretnine currently manages around 8,000 residential units, of which 1,500 are vacant.

Bačić said 350 apartments were currently being renovated, while 150 had already been refurbished following the earthquakes in Zagreb and Petrinja.

He said the vacant units would eventually be used for affordable housing, including to address the issue of protected tenants and to provide housing for young people.

Under the new strategy, the government plans to activate 60 per cent of properties it has classified as strategically important for Croatia, as well as 50 per cent of other state-owned assets, including undeveloped construction land, buildings, flats, business premises, mountain lodges, campsites and residential properties.

Another objective is to reduce the reliance of state administration bodies on rented premises. Of the 1.8 million square metres currently used by state institutions, 22 per cent is leased, and the government aims to reduce that share to 15 per cent.

Calls for public property catalogue

MP Marin Živković of the We Can! party criticised the strategy for lacking a publicly accessible and searchable property catalogue that would show who uses state-owned premises, under what terms and at what cost.

Bačić said the state already had an internal property register containing all relevant data, but that it was not publicly available because it was intended for government bodies. He added that a central property register with a smaller amount of data was available and that the government planned to publish an expanded version once it was completed.

SDP MP Dalibor Domitrović questioned whether local authorities had sufficient administrative capacity to take on additional responsibilities as part of the decentralisation of state property management.

Bačić acknowledged that some counties, cities and municipalities had lacked sufficient capacity to handle complex procedures, but said that larger cities and county centres already had experience managing their own assets and that the new system would represent an extension of those responsibilities.

Minister rejects claims over Šibenik land sale

Bridge MP Ante Kujundžić said Bačić was responsible for the sale of state-owned land at the entrance to Šibenik, alleging possible irregularities.

"While young people buy land from the state for €70-80 per square metre, you sold it to an established player, whose building houses the State Inspectorate in Šibenik, for €6, and you will buy it back for €190," Kujundžić said.

Bačić replied that the sale procedure had taken place before he became minister and that it had been carried out in accordance with the law.

He said three confirmations had been issued by the Hrvatske Ceste road operator stating that the land would not fall within the corridor of a future state road.

"If that happened, we would file criminal charges against those who issued those confirmations," Bačić said.

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