Housing for workers in Zagreb: standards, registration and tax

Who these rules are for

Special housing rules apply to third-country workers, meaning citizens of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. The Zakon o strancima (Foreigners Act) and the rulebook on the stay of third-country nationals (Pravilnik o boravku državljana trećih zemalja) apply them to:

• seasonal workers
• workers whose work-and-residence permit is issued on the basis of an opinion from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), when the employer provides the housing or acts as an intermediary in arranging it
• since 4 June 2026, also extensions of such permits, and permits for work on rebuilding earthquake-damaged buildings or on energy renovation of buildings co-financed with EU or other public funds

They aren't a general rule for every lease. For workers on permits based on an HZZ opinion, the rulebook's minimum standards apply when the employer provides or arranges the housing. Seasonal workers must prove adequate housing even when they find it themselves.

A third-country worker who rents a flat on their own follows the general rules for foreigners: under the rulebook, registering the address needs a lease certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration), and the address is registered within 15 days. It's all in our guide for foreigners. Flatmates can split the costs with the rent split calculator.

We found no similar rule on minimum space, number of people or proof of housing for Croatian workers or workers from the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Croatian citizens register a temporary address (boravište)Temporary address (boravište)simplifiedThe address where you live for a while without settling there for good. You register it with the police within 15 days if you'll stay longer than three months.Source: Zakon o prebivalištu (NN 144/12, 158/13, 114/22), čl. 2., 4. i 10., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary within 15 days of arriving. The rule on co-owners' consent for more than four adults in a flat applies to everyone, whatever their nationality (see below).

Minimum housing standards since 30 April 2026

Since 30 April 2026, the amended rulebook (NN 43/2026) has applied the detailed standards to workers on permits based on an HZZ opinion, not only to seasonal workers, who have had similar rules since 2022. For housing in a flat or a house:

• at least 14 m² for one worker, including the space for sleeping, cooking and the bathroom, plus 6 m² for each additional worker
• no more than eight third-country workers in one flat in a multi-unit building, however large the flat
• in a house with one or two units, for every 150 m²: no more than 10 workers and at least one bathroom

So (our arithmetic) two workers need at least 20 m², three 26 m², four 32 m², five 38 m², six 44 m², seven 50 m² and eight 56 m².

The flat or house must also have:

• at least one bathroom, physically separate from the living and sleeping rooms
• running water, electricity and heating (heating isn't required where the workers stay in summer)
• enough daylight, adequate artificial lighting and a way to ventilate
• furniture, for example a bed, seating, a table and a wardrobe
• a fridge, a cooker and a sink, unless there's a shared space for cooking, such as a canteen
• electrical and gas installations that meet the regulations
• physically separate bedroomsBedroom (spavaća soba)A room for sleeping. Croatian listings count all rooms including the living room, so a two-room flat usually has one bedroom and a three-room flat two.Source: Pravilnik minimalnih tehničkih uvjeta za projektiranje i gradnju stanova iz POS-a (NN 106/04, 25/06, 121/11), čl. 2., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary for men and women, unless they're family
• rooms high enough to move around safely, and equipment and appliances that aren't worn out or damaged

A worker can't be registered at the employer's registered office unless adequate housing under these standards can be provided there.

When the employer provides or arranges the housing, the rent may be at most 30% of the worker's net pay and can't be deducted from pay automatically. The Foreigners Act also requires that the rent isn't too high for the net pay and the quality of the housing, and that the housing meets general health and safety norms.

The employer gives the worker a lease or an equivalent document setting out the terms, including the rent. Free housing needs such a document too. The employer must keep providing adequate housing for as long as the employment contract runs.

Who inspects the housing, and the fines

Since 4 June 2026, inspectors of the Državni inspektorat (State Inspectorate) supervise the housing of seasonal workers and of workers on permits based on an HZZ opinion (new or extended), when the employer provides or arranges it. At address registration, the police also check how many people are already registered at the address (see below).

For inadequate housing that the employer provides or arranges, the Foreigners Act sets these fines:

• an employer that is a legal person: €1,500–3,000
• the responsible person in that legal person: €500–1,000
• an employer who is a natural person: €700–1,500

If an employer has been fined twice or more for inadequate housing, the police can refuse its application for a work-and-residence permit. Failing to tell the police about a change in the housing on time is fined too: €500–1,500 for a legal person, €50–400 for its responsible person and €100–700 for an employer who is a natural person.

Transition: the new housing rules don't apply to workers who already had a registered address on 30 April 2026 while they stay at the same address, for one year, that is until 30 April 2027. This also covers registering the address on an extended permit, and it applies accordingly in the work-and-residence permit procedure.

What the work-and-residence permit application needs

For a permit based on an HZZ opinion, proof of housing is attached only when the employer provides or arranges the housing. The application then includes proof of adequate housing, alongside the employment contract and proof that the worker meets the labour-market-test requirements. The proof is one of these:

• a lease certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava, stating the rent and the floor area
• a statement by the employer who owns the property, giving the floor area

The lease or statement must also give the number of people already living there. The applicant also signs Form 17a (Obrazac 17a), a statement that the housing meets the rulebook's standards. Form 17a doesn't need a notary. It goes with the application and again whenever the housing changes.

When the permit is for a worker who is only now coming to Croatia, Form 17a goes with the application instead. The certified lease or the owner's statement follows later, at address registration.

Seasonal workers have to prove adequate housing even when they find it themselves. The proof is then a lease certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava, or a statement by an owner who is a relative of the worker, showing the floor area.

According to the rulebook's information sheet for seasonal workers (Art. 51), a worker who had a seasonal permit in the previous five years and didn't break the Foreigners Act needn't attach proof of adequate housing when the permit is issued again.

Since 4 June 2026, the employer reports any change in the adequacy of the housing to the police within 15 days. Before that, from 15 March 2025, it was 8 days. For seasonal workers, the worker and the employer still report any change in the housing within 8 days.

Address registration and co-owners' consent

A third-country worker on temporary stay registers their address within 15 days of entering Croatia or of moving. This deadline has applied since 4 June 2026. From 15 March 2025 to 3 June 2026 it was 3 days. Since 30 April 2026, the registration (Form 16a) needs one of these:

• a land-registry extract (vlasnički list), if the worker owns the flat
• a sale contract, if there's no land-registry extract yet
• a lease certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava
• the consent of a family member who owns the flat
• a statement by the employer who owns the flat

Until 30 April 2026 the rulebook didn't require the lease to be certified. The owner needn't come to the police if the family member's consent or the employer's statement is certified by a notary. For seasonal workers, and for workers whose housing the employer provides or arranges, Form 17a also goes with the registration of a change of address.

When temporary stay is extended at the same address, no new documents are needed, except a lease if the old one doesn't cover the new period.

For workers on permits based on an HZZ opinion (new or extended), seasonal workers and workers on building-renovation permits, the police won't register an address where more people are already registered than its floor area allows under the rulebook.

If the employer sends a worker to work away from the registered address, the worker or the employer must register the new address. An employer that misses the deadline faces a fine of €500–1,500 for a legal person (plus €50–400 for its responsible person) or €100–700 for a natural person.

In Zagreb, PU zagrebačka (the Zagreb police administration) takes a foreign worker's address registration on arrival (after the first permit is issued) and a foreigner's change of address by email, as PDFs, at zg.drzavljanstvo.stranci@mup.hr. Its notice of 31 August 2026 lists Form 16a, a copy of the travel document, and the landlord's consent and ID card or a certified lease.

The police notice and the rulebook differ here. Since 30 April 2026 the rulebook asks for a certified lease and mentions consent only from an owner who is a family member. Plan on a certified lease. Practice may differ, so check with the police before the worker moves in.

The amended Foreigners Act (NN 55/2026) requires the rulebook to be aligned by early December 2026 (six months from 4 June 2026). By 19 October 2026 we found no such amendment in Narodne novine. So the rulebook's sheet for seasonal workers still gives 3 days to report a change of address, while the Act gives 15. The Act ranks higher: plan on 15 days and ask the police if unsure.

Two rules require co-owners' consent. Under the rulebook, in a building with four or more flats, registering more than four adult third-country nationals who aren't related in one flat also needs the building co-owners' written consent, unless it was filed earlier for that flat. The same applies at the permit stage when the employer provides or arranges the housing.

Since 1 January 2025, the Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (Act on the Management and Maintenance of Buildings) requires consent whatever the occupants' nationality. Anyone who wants to house more than four adults who aren't related in one flat needs prior written consent from a two-thirds majority of co-owners. All co-owners whose units border the flat through a wall, floor or ceiling must consent too.

A building here means one with at least four flats, or at least three flats and one business unit.

In both rules, 'related' means relatives in the direct line (for example parents, children, grandchildren) and in the collateral line up to the second degree (brothers and sisters). The rulebook asks for birth or marriage certificates as proof.

• Consent is given for at least five years and binds future owners.
• Co-owners can revoke it early, by more than half of the co-owners, if the house rules and the other co-owners' rights are breached three or more times within two years.
• Flats already let this way on 1 January 2025 had until 1 January 2026 to collect consent.
• Letting without consent is fined €1,000–5,500 for an owner who is a natural person and €2,000–10,000 for a legal person. The owner stays liable even when the tenant is a company.

Tax: employer-paid housing and letting to a company

Employer-paid worker housing is a non-taxable receipt up to the actual cost, if paid cashless and documented. There's no euro cap, and the receipt counts for the month the housing was used. The legal basis is the income taxIncome tax on rent (porez na dohodak)simplifiedThe tax a private landlord pays on rent: 12% of the rent less 30% for expenses, i.e. 8.4% of the rent. It's paid monthly under a Tax Administration decision.Source: Zakon o porezu na dohodak, čl. 57. i 62., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary rulebook (Pravilnik o porezu na dohodak), Art. 7(2), item 36, in force since 1 September 2019. Its text sets no condition about distance from home, seasonal work or nationality.

Porezna uprava describes three ways to pay it:

• the employer contracts the housing and pays the provider cashless (code 67 on the JOPPD form)
• the worker signs the lease in their own name, gives the employer a copy, and the employer pays the cost into the worker's account (code 68)
• housing at the employer's own premises, at actual cost with documentation (code 67)

Only the housing cost itself is tax-free. A garage, and separately charged phone, internet, electricity, water, heating and similar costs, are excluded. On a shared lease, only the worker's own share counts. Codes 67 and 68 are still on the JOPPD form in force from 1 January 2026.

For the landlord, letting to a company is taxed like letting to an individual: the Income Tax Act sets no separate rule. You pay 12% on the rent less 30% flat-rate expenses. Porezna uprava sets the tax by decision, due by the last day of each month. We found no rule making the company pay it for you. Work out your amount with the rental income tax calculator.

You file the lease, and every change to it, with the Porezna uprava office for your place of residence or usual abode within 8 days of the facts relevant to the tax arising or changing. It goes with Form RPO, through ePorezna, in person or by post, but not by email.

If a notary certified your signature, 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 the lease or drew it up as a notarial deed, the notary sends it instead, within 30 days. The steps are in our lease reporting guide.

If total receipts pass the threshold for compulsory VAT registration, the tax on rental income is worked out as for self-employment: from business books, with contributions.

Property taxProperty tax (porez na nekretnine)simplifiedA yearly local tax per m² of useful floor area on homes not used for permanent living. In Zagreb it's €8 per m² from 1 January 2027 (€5 in 2026).Source: Zakon o lokalnim porezima (NN 115/16 … 152/24), čl. 26., 27. i 49., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: according to Porezna uprava's opinion of 26 May 2026, a flat let to a legal person to house workers is exempt only if it's let for at least 10 months of the year and the same people, with an address registered there, live in it for the whole lease. A shorter let to a company doesn't qualify. A flat let to a company purely for business use, but charged the communal feeCommunal fee (komunalna naknada)simplifiedA public charge paid to the City for maintaining communal infrastructure, per m² of useful floor area. The owner pays it unless a written contract moves it to the tenant.Source: Zakon o komunalnom gospodarstvu (NN 68/18 … 145/24), čl. 93. i 94., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary at the residential rate, does owe it.

No property tax is due either on a flat let long-term as a permanent home for at least 10 months a year, with the lease reported to Porezna uprava. What this means for 2027 is in our guide to the tax on empty flats.

Checklist for landlords letting to a company

When the tenant is an employer and workers will live in the flat, go through this list before you sign:

1. 1Check how many workers the flat can take. For third-country workers in employer-provided housing, that's 14 m² for the first and 6 m² for each additional one, and at most eight in a flat in a multi-unit building.
2. 2Sign a written lease and have it certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava. State the rent, the floor area, the number of people already living there and the people who will use the flat. Check the rest with our lease checklist.
3. 3If more than four adults who aren't related will live in a flat in a building with at least four flats (or three flats and a business unit), get the co-owners' written consent before they move in.
4. 4Agree with the company who registers the address and by when. The worker registers it within 15 days, and when the employer sends the worker to work away from the registered address, the worker or the employer does. Check in advance with PU zagrebačka which documents it wants when the tenant is a company.
5. 5File the lease and every change with Porezna uprava within 8 days, unless a notary sends it. Also send the lease and every rent change to the City of Zagreb.
6. 6At move-in, record the flat's condition, the meter readings and the inventory in a move-in report, with photos.
7. 7Give the co-owners' representativeCo-owners' representative (predstavnik suvlasnika)simplifiedThe co-owner whom a building's owners elect to represent them in running it and to work with the manager. An owner must report a change of tenant to them within 15 days.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 41. i 42., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary the tenants' names and contacts. Report a change of tenant within 15 days, and within the same time a change in the number of people in the flat if the building's shared costs depend on it.

The Rulebook on House Rules (NN 86/2025) is a national regulation that applies in every building with at least four flats, and the owner answers for the tenants keeping them. On working days, quiet hours run from 15:00 to 17:00 and from 22:00 to 7:00; on non-working days, weekends and public holidays, from 13:00 to 17:00 and from 22:00 to 9:00. Co-owners holding a majority of the shares can set other hours. More in the guide House rules in Croatian buildings.

We found no separate City of Zagreb rules on worker housing, so the national rules apply.

Frequently asked questions