Rent increases in Croatia: can the landlord raise the rent, and by how much?

First: what your lease says

A residential lease is made in writing and sets out, among other things, the rent, how it's paid and how long the lease runs (Housing Lease Act, Arts. 4 and 5). On the open market that's a freely agreed rentRent (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 (slobodno ugovorena najamnina, Arts. 6 and 9), and anything the Act doesn't regulate is up to the parties (Art. 3). The Supreme Court has confirmed that the starting rent for a privately owned flat depends on what the parties agree, and that Arts. 10 and 11 deal only with raising an already agreed rent on an open-ended lease (Rev 12/2014-8, 7 February 2023).

The rules on rises depend on whether your lease has an end date (fixed-term, na određeno vrijeme) or not (open-ended, na neodređeno). Our lease checklist covers what else to check. Whether your rent, or a proposed one, is in the usual range for similar flats, check with Is my rent within the usual range?

The draft new Housing Lease Act, which would cap rent rises, hadn't been passed as of 19 October 2026, so this guide describes the law in force. We cover what the draft proposes at the end, and in our guide to the draft.

Fixed-term leases: a new rent comes with the renewal

For fixed-term leases the Housing Lease Act doesn't regulate rent changes during the term, so the lease decides (Art. 3). As we read it, if the lease has no clause on changes, such as an index clause, the agreed rent applies until the end date, and the landlord can only ask for more for a renewal:

• If neither side says in writing at least 30 days before the end that it won't renew, the lease renews tacitly for the same period (Art. 25(1)), on the same rent as we read it.
• If the landlord wants to renew at a higher rent, they must tell you in writing at least 30 days before the end (Art. 25(2)).
• If you don't accept within 15 days of receiving the offer, you're taken not to want a new lease (Art. 25(3)), and the lease ends on its end date.

As we read it, the Act sets no cap on the rent offered for a renewal: the 20% limit in Art. 10 applies to open-ended leases.

Open-ended leases: after a year, and up to a cap

On an open-ended lease the freely agreed rentRent (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 can't change before a year has passed. After that, either side, the tenant included, can propose a change in writing (Art. 10(1)). For the next period the rent can be agreed at no more than 20% above the average freely agreed rent in the same settlement or county for a flat comparable in size, fittings and location (Art. 10(2)).

The local council's housing department provides the average-rent data (Art. 11(1)). If the newly proposed rent exceeds “the amount in paragraph 1”, the tenant can ask a court within 30 days to set the rent, and pays the agreed rent as an advance until the court decides (Art. 11(2)). Our lease checklist has the exact wording.

The Act doesn't say whether “the amount in paragraph 1” means the average itself or the average plus 20%, or what happens if the tenant neither accepts the proposal nor goes to court. We found no published City of Zagreb figure for the Art. 11 average, so ask the City for it. If it comes to a dispute, get legal advice.

As we read the Act, turning down a higher rent isn't a ground for notice. The grounds for notice or termination it lists are using the flat against the Act or the lease, such as not paying the agreed rent (Art. 19), damage and alterations (Art. 20), and the landlord or close family moving in, with another suitable flat for the tenant (Art. 21). Our guide to ending a lease has the notice periodsNotice to end a lease (otkaz ugovora o najmu)simplifiedA statement by which landlord or tenant ends a lease. A tenant gives at least three months' notice on an open-ended lease; a landlord may only give notice on legal grounds.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19.–25., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary.

Index clauses: rent linked to inflation or an exchange rate

Without a special clause, the amount in the lease stands: a debtor pays the number of currency units the obligation states (Obligations Act, Art. 21). A lease may link the rent to a price index set by an authorised body (an index clause, Art. 23), for example DZS's consumer price index, which DZS says is also used for contracts with index clauses. A currency clause, linking the amount to a foreign exchange rate, is allowed too (Art. 22).

On a fixed-term lease, such a clause is up to the parties (Housing Lease Act, Art. 3). On an open-ended lease, as we read it, the rule that the rent can't change in the first year still applies (Art. 10). Whether a yearly index clause can replace the Arts. 10 and 11 procedure after that, the Act doesn't say directly, and we found no case law on it.

Our advice: if you agree an index clause, it should state:

• which index applies (DZS's consumer price index or the harmonised index, HICP) and which periods are compared
• how often and from which date the rent is adjusted
• whether the rent can also go down, and whether there's a cap
• how the landlord tells the tenant the new amount

Changed circumstances: a court decides

If, because of extraordinary circumstances that arose after the contract was made and couldn't have been foreseen, performing it would become excessively onerous for one side or cause it an excessively large loss, that side can ask for the contract to be changed or terminated (Obligations Act, Art. 369). A side that should have taken those circumstances into account, or could have avoided or overcome them, can't, and it must tell the other side of its intention straight away (Arts. 369 and 370). A court decides, weighing the purpose of the contract, the allocation of risk and both sides' interests (Art. 371), and the parties can waive reliance on particular circumstances in advance, unless that's contrary to good faith (Art. 372).

As we read it, an ordinary rise in market rents or inflation will rarely count as extraordinary and unforeseeable, so this isn't a route to a higher rent without agreement.

If you agree: a written annex and filing within 8 days

1. 1Put the new rent in a written annex to the lease, signed by both of you: the amount, the date it applies from and the lease it amends. A residential lease must be in writing (Housing Lease Act, Art. 4), and a legal form requirement also covers later changes to the contract (Obligations Act, Art. 286). How a court treats a higher rent agreed orally and paid for months depends on the facts (Arts. 290 and 294).
2. 2The landlord sends the annex to Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration) within 8 days. 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 Act counts the deadline from the day the facts relevant for tax arise or change (Art. 62(7)), so, as we read it, the safest course is to file within 8 days of signing the annex, or of the date the new rent applies from if that's earlier. If a notary certified the landlord's 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 annex or drew it up as a notarial deed, the notary sends it instead (Art. 62(8)).
3. 3The landlord also sends every rent change to the City of Zagreb (Housing Lease Act, Art. 26), as we read it including a change under an index clause. The Act sets a fine for failing to do so (Art. 29).
4. 4Income tax on rent is paid under a decision from Porezna uprava (Income Tax Act, Art. 62(1)), so a higher rent means more tax. Work out how much with our rental income tax calculator.

Our reporting checklist has the filing steps.

If you don't agree with a rise

Our advice for tenants:

• Reply in writing and ask what the new rent is based on. For comparison, see what similar flats are listed for in our rent estimate, and the official median of registered leases (below).
• Until you agree, keep paying the agreed rent. Not paying it is a ground for notice, after a written warning giving you 30 days (Housing Lease Act, Art. 19).
• On an open-ended lease, if the new rent exceeds the Art. 11 amount, you have 30 days to ask a court to set it (Art. 11), and you can also end the lease with at least three months' notice (Art. 23).
• On a fixed-term lease you can turn down a renewal at a higher rent, but the lease then ends on its end date (Art. 25), so start looking for a flat in good time.

Our advice for landlords: on an open-ended lease, propose the change in writing, only after the first year, and back it with rents for comparable flats (Art. 10). On a fixed-term lease, offer the new terms in writing at least 30 days before the end (Art. 25).

Neither side should take matters into their own hands. As we read it, a landlord who changes the locks or removes the tenant's belongings without a court decision is disturbing the tenant's possession on their own authority, and the tenant can ask a court for urgent protection within 30 days of learning of the act and who did it, and no later than a year after it (Ownership and Other Real Rights Act, Arts. 10, 21 and 22). Whether cutting off 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 counts too depends on the facts. A tenant who simply pays less risks notice. Our tenant rights guide lists free legal help in Zagreb.

Unpaid rent, and as we read it the difference up to a validly agreed higher rent, becomes time-barred three years after each instalment fell due (Obligations Act, Arts. 229 and 215).

How fast rents are rising: official figures

According to Eurostat's harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), the rents tenants pay in Croatia were 3.5% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier (4.3% in August 2026), while all consumer prices in the HICP were up 4.3% in September 2026. That's a national average, not a Zagreb figure.

The same rent index rose 35.0% in a single month in August 2025, so the annual rates from August 2025 to July 2026 (34.6% to 40.8%) reflect that one-off jump. The data gives no reason and we didn't find one. Separately, DZS's methodology says it also collects market rent prices automatically from websites (web scraping), as it did before August 2025.

For Zagreb there are figures from registered leases. According to the Croatian property market review 2025, the median across the 3,341 Zagreb flat leases entered in the official price register (Zbirka kupoprodajnih cijena) was €12.8/m² a month in 2025, 12.0% more than in 2024. Only about 11.2% of all leases registered in Zagreb in 2025 had been entered in that register, and a rise in the median of one year's registered leases isn't the same as a rise on an existing lease.

Asking prices in listings aren't agreed rents. Our rent estimate shows what flats like yours are listed for today, by neighbourhood, size and rooms.

The full story of the August 2025 jump is in Did Croatian rents rise 22%?.

What the draft new law proposes (not passed)

Status on 19 October 2026: the public consultation on the draft closed on 2 September 2026, the consultation page shows no report yet, and the law isn't before the Sabor (parliament). Until it's passed, everything above applies.

Under the draft on e-Savjetovanja, the starting market rent would still be set freely, but it could rise at most once a year, with 30 days' notice, and by no more than residential property prices rose in the previous year according to DZS. A clause allowing more would be void, and a rise would give the tenant a justified reason to leave on at least 30 days' notice (Art. 31). The law would also apply to leases signed before it takes effect (Art. 58), so, as we read it, this cap would too, and it would take effect on 1 January 2027 (Art. 61).

Two things are unclear. The draft's reasoning on Art. 31 speaks of rises “up to the previous year's inflation rate”, while the article itself names residential property prices. Nor does the draft say which DZS figure would apply. For comparison: DZS data in Eurostat put residential property prices in Q2 2026 at 12.7% above a year earlier (provisional), against 3.5% for rents in the HICP in September 2026. Our guide to the draft covers its other proposals.

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