Landlord and tenant in Croatian: najmodavac, najmoprimac, podstanar

Najmodavac and najmoprimac: the two parties to a lease

The Housing Lease Act calls the parties najmodavacLandlord (najmodavac)simplifiedThe person who lets the flat, usually its owner. They must hand over and keep the flat fit to live in and pay for necessary repairs.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3., 12.–16. i 26., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary and najmoprimacTenant (najmoprimac)simplifiedThe person who rents the flat and pays the rent; in everyday Croatian a podstanar. The lease is made with one person, exceptionally with both spouses.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 4. i 14.–17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: the najmodavac hands over a flat for living in, and the najmoprimac pays rent for it (Art. 3). The lease is made in writing, with one person, or exceptionally with both spouses (Art. 4).

The Civil Obligations Act uses the same words in its lease provisions (Arts. 550–578). What each side may and must do is in our tenant rights guide.

Podstanar: an everyday word

For an ordinary flat lease, "podstanarTenant (podstanar, everyday word)The everyday Croatian word for someone renting a flat. In the law the tenant is called najmoprimac.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary" is an everyday word that means the same as najmoprimacTenant (najmoprimac)simplifiedThe person who rents the flat and pays the rent; in everyday Croatian a podstanar. The lease is made with one person, exceptionally with both spouses.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 4. i 14.–17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, the tenant. The Croatian Language Portal describes a podstanar as someone who lives in a rented room or flat.

The Housing Lease Act uses the word only in "zaštićeni podstanar" (Art. 47): people who got that status under the rules before 1996 and rent part of a flat, the old, literal meaning of the word. That chapter of the Act has not applied since 1 January 2025; people with that status are covered by the 2024 Statileo act (NN 36/2024).

Stanodavac, stanar, cimer: what they mean in an ad

• Stanodavac: someone who lets a flat or a room; in ads, the same as najmodavacLandlord (najmodavac)simplifiedThe person who lets the flat, usually its owner. They must hand over and keep the flat fit to live in and pay for necessary repairs.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3., 12.–16. i 26., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, the landlord.
• Stanar: someone who lives in a flat; the Croatian Language Portal contrasts it with the owner of the building.
• Cimer: a regional word for a flatmate or roommate. How flatmates and the landlord arrange it is in our subletting guide.

Podnajmoprimac: when the tenant lets the flat on

A tenant may subletSubletting (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 the flat or part of it only with the landlord's consent (Housing Lease Act, Art. 28; Civil Obligations Act, Art. 567). The person who lives there that way is a podnajmoprimac, a subtenant, and the sublease ends when the lease ends (Art. 569). The Housing Lease Act doesn't use that word; the Affordable Housing Act does (Arts. 55–60).

Protected tenants and the former occupancy right

The 1996 Housing Lease Act abolished the occupancy right (stanarsko pravo). Former holders became tenants with a right to a protected rentProtected tenant (zaštićeni najmoprimac)simplifiedA tenant who lives in a flat on the basis of a former tenancy right and paid a protected rent. For private flats a transitional protected lease has applied since 1 January 2025.Source: Zakon o načinu izvršenja presuda ESLJP u skupini predmeta Statileo (NN 36/2024), čl. 4., 17., 18. i 20., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, protected tenants (zaštićeni najmoprimci, Arts. 30 and 31). For privately owned flats that status ended on 1 January 2025. Nobody can acquire it today, and its rules don't apply to market leases. More in our protected tenants guide.

Najam or zakup: a flat is let, business premises are leased

A flat is let under najam (Civil Obligations Act, Arts. 550–578, and the Housing Lease Act), and business premises under zakup (Act on the Lease and Sale of Business Premises, Art. 1; Civil Obligations Act, Arts. 519–549). The parties to a zakup are the zakupodavac and the zakupnik, and the payment is zakupnina.

To subletSubletting (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 a flat, a tenant always needs the landlord's consent (Civil Obligations Act, Art. 567). For a zakup, the general rule lets the zakupnik sublease if that doesn't harm the zakupodavac, unless agreed otherwise (Art. 537). Business premises are the reverse: the zakupnik may not sublease them unless the lease allows it (Act on the Lease and Sale of Business Premises, Art. 19).

Najamnina, stanarina, polog, kapara, režije: the money in a lease

• NajamninaRent (najamnina)simplifiedWhat the tenant pays the landlord for the use of the flat. In market leases it's agreed freely; the lease and the law limit changes during the tenancy.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3., 6., 9. i 10., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: the rent. What flats ask in Zagreb is in our rent prices guide.
• StanarinaStanarina (rent, dorm fee)Another word for rent. In student dorms, stanarina is the monthly fee for the place.Source: SC Zagreb: Pravilnik o domskom redu i uvjetima boravka studenata (2023.), čl. 20., checked 20 Oct 2026More in the glossary: in everyday speech the same as najamnina; the Housing Lease Act uses it for the payment from before 1996 (Art. 34).
• PologDeposit (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: the deposit, paid at the start of the lease as security and returned at the end, minus debts that are due, such as unpaid rent, bills or damage you caused (not ordinary wear, unless the lease says otherwise). More in our deposit guide.
• KaparaEarnest money (kapara)simplifiedMoney paid when a contract is made, as a sign that it has been concluded. It isn't a deposit, which secures rent and damage during the lease.Source: Zakon o obveznim odnosima, čl. 303. i 304., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: in everyday speech often an advance payment, but under the Civil Obligations Act a kapara is a sign that the contract has been made (Art. 303). A polog is something else.
• RežijeUtilities (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 utilities and running costs on top of the rent (electricity, gas or heating, water, waste collection and the rest). The reserve fund (pričuva)Reserve 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 is owed by the owner by law and is the tenant's only if the lease says so. More in our utilities guide.

Najmoprimac or najmoprimatelj, podstanar or potstanar: the spelling

It's spelled "podstanarTenant (podstanar, everyday word)The everyday Croatian word for someone renting a flat. In the law the tenant is called najmoprimac.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary". It's pronounced with a "t", but the Croatian Orthography doesn't write that assimilation and gives "podstanar" as one of its examples (§ 3.2.1).

The laws and the Orthography's dictionary use najmodavacLandlord (najmodavac)simplifiedThe person who lets the flat, usually its owner. They must hand over and keep the flat fit to live in and pay for necessary repairs.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3., 12.–16. i 26., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary and najmoprimacTenant (najmoprimac)simplifiedThe person who rents the flat and pays the rent; in everyday Croatian a podstanar. The lease is made with one person, exceptionally with both spouses.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 4. i 14.–17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary. The forms "najmodavatelj" and "najmoprimatelj" aren't found in any law in force, but they do appear in contracts and court decisions.

In English: landlord, tenant, rent, deposit

• najmodavacLandlord (najmodavac)simplifiedThe person who lets the flat, usually its owner. They must hand over and keep the flat fit to live in and pay for necessary repairs.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3., 12.–16. i 26., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, stanodavac: landlord
• najmoprimacTenant (najmoprimac)simplifiedThe person who rents the flat and pays the rent; in everyday Croatian a podstanar. The lease is made with one person, exceptionally with both spouses.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 4. i 14.–17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, podstanarTenant (podstanar, everyday word)The everyday Croatian word for someone renting a flat. In the law the tenant is called najmoprimac.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: tenant
• podnajmoprimac: subtenantSubletting (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 (not podstanar, a false friend)
• najamninaRent (najamnina)simplifiedWhat the tenant pays the landlord for the use of the flat. In market leases it's agreed freely; the lease and the law limit changes during the tenancy.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3., 6., 9. i 10., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: rent
• pologDeposit (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: deposit
• režijeUtilities (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: utilities

These are the usual English words, not an official translation. Our guide to a lease in English goes through a whole lease.

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