Affordable rent in Zagreb: the state (APN) and City schemes

Three schemes with the same name

In Zagreb, priuštivi najam (affordable rentAffordable rent (priuštivi najam)simplifiedA state programme in which APN rents empty private flats and lets them to households at an income-based rent. The City of Zagreb runs a separate scheme for city-owned flats.Source: Zakon o priuštivom stanovanju (NN 45/2026), čl. 55.–61., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary) can mean three different schemes:

• The state's Affordable Rent Programme is run by APN, the Agency for Legal Transactions and Real Estate Brokerage. The state rents empty private flats and lets them to eligible households at an income-based rent, covering the gap to the market price itself. Since 7 May 2026 it has been governed by the Affordable Housing Act (Zakon o priuštivom stanovanju).
• The City of Zagreb's call of 30 April 2026 lets flats the City owns, at a rent set as a percentage of income.
• The same Act (Arts. 47–51) also provides for lets in new public buildings, but we found no Zagreb call of this kind as of 19 October 2026.

The City's social-housing list, based on socio-economic status, is a separate scheme, covered in our guide to city-owned flats in Zagreb. Cash help with the rent on a flat you already have (the housing-cost benefit), and whether a rent subsidy exists, are covered in our guide to help with paying rent.

Calls and deadlines

• City of Zagreb: the proposed priority list was published on 13 October 2026 and ranks 514 applicants. The deadline for online objections (primjedbe), under “Moje prijave” on natjecaji.zagreb.hr, closed on 21 October 2026 (deadline rechecked on 22 October 2026). Follow the City's announcements for news of the final list. Questions: upravljanje-imovinom@zagreb.hr.
• APN: no call was open when checked on 19 October 2026. The call for tenants ran from 15 April to 15 May 2026, and the final lists came out on 15 July 2026.
• A draft new Affordable RentAffordable rent (priuštivi najam)simplifiedA state programme in which APN rents empty private flats and lets them to households at an income-based rent. The City of Zagreb runs a separate scheme for city-owned flats.Source: Zakon o priuštivom stanovanju (NN 45/2026), čl. 55.–61., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary Programme was in public consultation from 3 August to 2 September 2026. As of 19 October 2026 we found no sign it has been adopted, so the November 2025 programme still applies.

APN posts its next call on its public calls page.

The state programme: who could apply in 2026

Under the call of 15 April 2026, Croatian citizens could apply if neither they nor their spouse, partner or children owned a home in Croatia or abroad, other than an unsuitable one, and if they had no income beyond what their tax certificate showed. A suitable home is a habitable one of about 35 m² for one person plus 10 m² for each extra person. Applications were online only (prijava.apn.hr), naming up to three towns or municipalities.

Ranking points include household net income (from 10 points at 1 to 1.5 minimum wages down to 1 point at 4 to 5), family size and children, age (most points at 25 to 45), disability, and years of residence in the chosen place (0.5 a year, up to 10). The programme sets no explicit income ceiling, and we couldn't confirm whether applications above five minimum wages were rejected.

Of 1,315 applications (745 with Zagreb as first choice), the final lists of 15 July 2026 approved 1,103. Applicants who didn't get a home stay on the list for the next round. We found no figure for signed leases since then.

What tenants pay in the state programme

The rent is 30% of household net monthly income minus €2.50 per m² for utilitiesUtilities (režije)Housing costs on top of rent: electricity, gas or heating, water, waste, the reserve fund, the HRT licence fee and internet. The lease decides which the tenant pays.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 5., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary and upkeep (Affordable RentAffordable rent (priuštivi najam)simplifiedA state programme in which APN rents empty private flats and lets them to households at an income-based rent. The City of Zagreb runs a separate scheme for city-owned flats.Source: Zakon o priuštivom stanovanju (NN 45/2026), čl. 55.–61., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary Programme, point 6), and never less than €2 per m² (Affordable Housing Act, Art. 61). The formula is the same everywhere in Croatia.

• A single person on €1,300 in 40 m²: €390 − €100 = €290 a month (APN).
• A family of four on €2,000 in 65 m²: €600 − €162.50 = €437.50 (APN).
• A single person on €1,500 in 35 m² in Novi Zagreb: €362.50, with the state covering the remaining €146.75 (the minister, 20 May 2026).

You're offered a flat in a place you chose if one is free there, otherwise as close as possible to where you live. An income rise of more than 15% must be reported within 30 days, and the rent is then recalculated.

Under APN's sample lease (June 2026), you pay a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary of one month's rent and sign a solemnisedSolemnisation (solemnizacija)simplifiedA notary confirms a contract: checks it, explains the consequences and gives it the force of a notarial deed. With an enforcement clause it becomes an enforcement title.Source: Zakon o javnom bilježništvu (NN 78/93 … 57/22), čl. 54. i 59., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary promissory note for five months' rent. You can end the lease with at least three months' notice; APN can end it on the grounds the lease lists, such as serious damage or breaches of house rules, with 30 days' notice. Flats come unfurnishedFurnished flat (namješten stan)A flat let with furniture. The law doesn't say what a furnished or partly furnished flat must contain, so the listing and the lease spell it out.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 5. i 12., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary apart from kitchen units and appliances, and sublettingSubletting (podnajam)simplifiedWhen the tenant lets the flat, or part of it, to someone else. They need the landlord's consent; subletting without it is a ground for notice.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19. i 28., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary isn't allowed.

The City of Zagreb's call for city-owned flats

For the City's call of 30 April 2026, applications were open for 30 days, online only. You had to:

• be a citizen of Croatia or another EU country, or have international protection;
• have lived in Zagreb continuously for at least three years;
• not own, with anyone in your household, a habitable flat or house in Zagreb or Zagreb County;
• have a 2025 income per household member of 30 to 80% of Zagreb's average net wage (€473.40 to €1,262.40), or 50 to 100% (€789.00 to €1,578.00) if you live alone.

Your rank depends on points for income, housing status, household make-up, social and health status, years of residence, and special circumstances such as being under 35.

The rent is a share of the household's income in the previous year: 12% for households of two or more below 50% of the average wage per member, 16% for 50 to 80%, and 24% for single people above 80%. It drops by 20% if a household member has a grade III or IV disability and by another 20% for flats in Sesvete. As an example (our arithmetic), two people on €2,000 between them have €1,000 each, about 63% of the average wage, so they pay 16%: €320 a month.

The lease runs five years as a notarial deed, at the tenant's cost, with a security depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary of two months' rent. It renews for five more if you've met your obligations, still qualify and apply 60 days before it ends. Turning down a suitable flat takes you off the list. The call doesn't say how many flats the City will let.

For owners: what the state pays

In the state programme your contract is with APN, which picks the tenant and manages the let. A flat could join if it hadn't been used for at least two years (with exceptions, such as an inherited flat or a former holiday let), was habitable or needed only finishing works, and had no structural damage.

The contract runs 3 to 10 years and can be extended. The fee is the median rent per m² for the cadastral municipality (see the table below), times the floor area, times the months of the contract. You get 60% within 30 days of handover and 40% halfway through, adjusted to how the median has moved. A flat that needs finishing works must be made habitable within six months, or the money repaid.

APN's example: 52 m² in Stenjevec Jug at €13.20/m² is €686.40 a month, or €32,947.20 over four years, of which €19,768.32 is paid up front.

During the contract, APN or the tenant pays the utilitiesUtilities (režije)Housing costs on top of rent: electricity, gas or heating, water, waste, the reserve fund, the HRT licence fee and internet. The lease decides which the tenant pays.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 5., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, the communal and water chargesWater charges (vodne naknade)State charges paid with the price of water, per m³ used: the water-use charge and the water-protection charge. No VAT is charged on them.Source: Vodoopskrba i odvodnja: cijena vodne usluge za Grad Zagreb od 1. 3. 2026., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, and the reserve fundReserve fund (pričuva)simplifiedMoney the co-owners pay each month to maintain the building's common parts and run it. The flat's owner owes it to the building, not the tenant.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 28. i 29., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary up to €1/m²; any reserve fund above that is the owner's (APN's questions and answers). Capital works on the building reduce the fee.

As we read the Act, APN pays your fee on that schedule; it isn't paid out of the tenant's monthly rent. You can end the contract early only on death or serious illness, the division of co-ownership in a divorce, or bankruptcy, and you then repay the fee pro rata. The tenant can't be your relative in the direct line or up to the fourth degree collaterally.

Owners offered 958 properties in the first call, which opened in December 2025 (ministry, 31 July 2026). The ministry says the new programme will relax the conditions for owners.

Zagreb median rents by cadastral municipality

For the City of Zagreb as a whole, the median rent table (EIZ) published by APN gives €12.70 per m² a month (December 2025). By cadastral municipality, in € per m², rounded to the cent:

• €14 and above: Centar Novi 14.55, Maksimir 14.48, Centar 14.20, Blato 14.20.
• €13 to €13.99: Trešnjevka 13.90, Jakuševec 13.80, Žitnjak 13.55, Rudeš 13.30, Stenjevec Jug 13.20, Klara Nova 13.10.
• €12 to €12.99: Trnje 12.90, Donja Dubrava 12.88, Donje Vrapče 12.75, Granešina 12.74, Peščenica 12.70, Gornji Stenjevec 12.66, Črnomerec 12.65, Klara 12.50, Šestine 12.46, Trešnjevka Nova 12.40, Jakuševec Novi 12.39, Zaprudski Otok 12.25, Remete 12.19, Dubrava 12.00.
• €11 to €11.99: Resnik 11.34, Mikulići 11.18, Lučko 11.00, Demerje 11.00.
• €10 to €10.99: Stenjevec 10.80; Odra, Vrapče, Gornje Vrapče, Brezovica, Čehi, Odranski Obrež, Odranski Obrež Novi, Dragonožec, Horvati, Kupinečki Kraljevec, Trpuci and Starjak 10.70; Markuševec 10.30; Gračani 10.26; Podsused 10.25.
• Below €10: Sesvetski Kraljevec 9.90; Čučerje Novo, Goranec, Planina and Vugrovec 9.80; Granešina Nova 9.79; Sesvete Novo 9.43; Đurđekovec 9.20; Sesvete 9.19; Šašinovec 7.92; Adamovec, Blaguša, Glavica, Kašina, Lužan and Vurnovec 7.90.

Many outlying cadastral municipalities share the same figure (10.70 or 7.90), and the table doesn't explain its method. Cadastral municipalities don't match neighbourhoods, and the figures aren't asking rents from listings.

How APN's payments are taxed

In its opinion of 24 April 2026, Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration) treats APN's fee as income from property: 30% counts as expenses and the rate is 12%. The tax is assessed by decision on each instalment when you receive it. Anyone receiving more than €60,000 in a year (the VAT registration threshold) must work out the income from books. Letting to APN is exempt from VAT.

That makes the tax 8.4% of what you receive: €1,660.54 on the first instalment in APN's example (our arithmetic). The rate and allowance are the same as for letting on the market, where the tax is paid monthly (rental income tax calculator).

No official source we found says whether a flat let to APN counts as a long-term letLong-term letting (dugoročni najam)simplifiedLetting a flat as someone's home under the Housing Lease Act. It also decides the property-tax exemption: the flat must be let for at least ten months of the year.Source: Zakon o lokalnim porezima (NN 115/16 … 152/24), čl. 27., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary for the property-tax exemption (guide to the 2027 property tax).

The state or the market: how to compare

The programme's table gives €12.70/m² for Zagreb. For what owners ask for a similar flat in your neighbourhood, see the rent estimator; for medians by number of rooms, the guide to rent prices in Zagreb. Those are asking prices, not agreed rents.

With APN you get 60% of the fee up front, but you don't choose the tenant and you're tied to a contract of 3 to 10 years. No call for owners is open now. On the market you choose the tenant and agree the rent and term yourself, and you can post your listing for free.

Frequently asked questions