The Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets has made the proposal of the Affordable Rental Programme open for public consultation. Activating existing vacant housing units and their introduction into the Affordable Rental Programme is one of the measures of the National Housing Policy Plan of the Republic of Croatia until 2030, adopted by the Government in March of this year.
The Programme envisages activating state owned housing units and introducing vacant privately owned apartments. In this way, with compensation to owners, properties which have been vacant for years would be available for rent to citizens who cannot solve their housing situation on the real estate market.
The targeted Programme groups, defined according to the National Housing Policy Plan, are households which have not resolved their housing situation and which do not own residential property, households with minimal to average incomes, young people and families with children, people with disabilities and people whose occupations are considered shortage occupations.
The Programme thoroughly defines the implementation procedure of public calls for owners and tenants, the scoring system, the necessary documents, the procedure for determining and applying priority lists, the procedure for calculating locally affordable rent, general conditions of the contract for granting real estate use and lease contracts.
The Programme will be carried out by the Agency for Transactions and Mediation in Immovable Properties (APN), while local self-government units will provide APN with data on local needs and lists of shortage occupations, based on which APN will issue public calls for vacant apartment owners and interested tenants, through mass-media channels and on its websites.
Upon completion of the calls, APN will determine a list of available housing units and form a priority list for tenants. Scoring will be carried out based on criteria such as household income, number of family members, number of children, age, disability level, place of residence, education and the need for shortage occupations.
The tenants are then offered an apartment from the list of available apartments and the appropriate floor area of the apartment is determined according to regulations on state subsidised housing construction, with a -5 m² to +20 m² tolerance.
Affordable rent is paid to APN and it must not exceed 30% of monthly household income, minus utility costs. Monthly utility costs are calculated based on the following formula: floor area of the apartment x €2.50.
For instance, a family with a total income of 2,000 euro for an apartment of 60 m2 would pay rent according to the following formula: income x 0.30 - €2.50/m2 = 600 - 150 = 450 euro per month. If their income would increase, so would the rent, while in the event of a reduced income, the family would be entitled to request adjustment. The difference up to the amount received by the owner would be compensated by APN.
Real estate owners involved in the Affordable Rental Programme are entitled to compensation as high as the local median rent, which is paid in two instalments - 60% immediately upon transferring the real estate to APN, and 40% once half of the agreed period has passed. For instance, for an apartment of 60 m2 in Zagreb with a five-year agreement, the median rent is €660 per month. This amounts to €7,920 per year, i.e. €39,600 per five years. The first instalment would
be €23,760 and the second €15,840. If the real estate is not in adequate condition, the owner undertakes, by contract, to render it usable within six months.
APN concludes the contract on granting real estate use with the owner once the tenant has been selected, while the lease contract is concluded between APN and the tenant. APN performs all administrative and technical duties of the implementation of the Programme and keeps a database of expressions of interest and concluded contracts.
Interested parties and professionals can participate by stating their opinions, suggestions and remarks, upon registration, via the
eConsultation portal no later than September 20, 2025.
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