How to rent an apartment in Zagreb as a foreigner

The steps, in order

1. 1Search, then see the flat in person before you pay anything. Listings on NajamStanova.com come from agency websites and from owners, and you can search them in English.
2. 2Agree in writing what you'll pay: the monthly rent, which bills are yours, the 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 and, if an agency is involved, its fee.
3. 3Sign a written lease. If you'll stay longer than three months, have it certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration). EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can instead ask the owner to sign the registration form at the police.
4. 4Register with the police. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens register temporary residenceTemporary 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 8 days after their first three months; everyone else needs approved temporary stay. Register your address within 15 days of moving in. If you have no OIBOIB (personal identification number)Croatia's personal identification number, a permanent identifier used in official records. Croatians get it at birth; foreigners when there's a reason to.Source: Porezna uprava: Osobni identifikacijski broj (OIB), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary yet, the police assign one when you register your residence.
5. 5Move the bills that are yours, such as electricity, into your name with the landlord, and agree how the others are paid.
6. 6When you move in, sign a record of the flat's condition, ideally with photos, so the deposit can be settled fairly when you leave.

Registering your address: the step people miss

The rules differ for citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland and for everyone else (third-country nationals), but in both cases the police (a police administration or station) handle registration and need proof that you may live in the flat.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can stay for up to three months with a passport or ID card and don't need to register. If you stay longer, as a worker, self-employed person or student, or with enough money and health insurance, register temporary residenceTemporary 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 (privremeni boravak) at the police within 8 days after your first three months end, and your address within 15 days of moving in. The registration certificate is free. Registering late can mean a fine of €20 for the residence and €60 for the address.

Third-country nationals (everyone outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland) apply for temporary stay at a Croatian embassy or consulate before travelling if they need a visa, or at the police if they don't. It's usually granted for a year. If you have a long-stay visa (D), go to the police within 30 days of it becoming valid. You then register your address within 15 days of arriving or moving. A third-country national on a visa-free or other short stay must be registered within 1 day by whoever provides the accommodation (Foreigners Act, Art. 177); if they can't, you register yourself within 2 days, as our guide to letting to foreign tenants explains.

The proof of the flat is where the lease matters. Under the rules in force since 30 April 2026, third-country nationals renting a flat need a lease certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration). EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need a lease certified by a notary or by Porezna uprava, or the owner signs the registration form (Obrazac 6b) in person at the police.

Before you sign, agree with the landlord that the lease will be certified by a notary or at Porezna uprava. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can instead have the owner sign Obrazac 6b at the police. Without one of these you can't register your address.

Documents for the police must be originals or certified copies, and foreign documents need certified Croatian translations, so we'd ask for a lease in Croatian or in both languages. You also can't register at an address that isn't in the official register of spatial units.

Sharing a flat: in a building with four or more flats, if more than four adult third-country nationals who aren't close relatives would live in one flat, the police also need the written consent of the building's co-owners.

In Zagreb, the police administration (PU zagrebačka) takes requests about temporary stay and changes of address by email at zg.drzavljanstvo.stranci@mup.hr. Its notice of 31 August 2026 lists the phone numbers and offices.

What is an OIB and how to get one

The OIBOIB (personal identification number)Croatia's personal identification number, a permanent identifier used in official records. Croatians get it at birth; foreigners when there's a reason to.Source: Porezna uprava: Osobni identifikacijski broj (OIB), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary is the number Croatian offices, banks and 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 use to identify you. If you register residence with the police, they assign it then, so you don't need to visit the Tax Administration separately. Otherwise Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration) assigns it at one of its offices: bring the application form, which comes in English, and your passport (the original to show, or a copy attached to the application) or an EU ID card. EU and EEA citizens with an e-Građani login can also apply online.

You'll need an OIB to open a bank account and to take over the electricity grid contract (HEP's transfer form asks for both your and the current holder's OIB). We found no rule that the lease itself must include it. With an OIB and an accepted login, foreign nationals can also use e-Građani, the government's online services.

If you live legally in the EU, you have a right to a basic bank account, and a bank can't refuse you just because you don't live in Croatia (an EU rule).

What the lease must say

Leases of flats fall under the Zakon o najmu stanova (the Housing Lease Act). A lease must be in writing and state, among other things, the rent and how it's paid, which living costs you pay and how, who else will live in the flat and how long the lease runs.

• 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: the Act has no rule and no cap, so the deposit is whatever the lease says. Write down the amount, when it's returned and what may be deducted, and get a receipt.
• Rent: in an open-ended lease, the agreed rent can't change during the first year. After that, either side can propose a change in writing, up to 20% above the average agreed rent in the same town or county. The Act sets no such rule for fixed-term leases.
• Notice: in an open-ended lease, you give at least 3 months' notice. The landlord needs a reason the Act allows, such as unpaid rent or 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 without consent, normally after a written warning with 30 days to put it right, and then gives 3 months' notice in writing.
• Fixed term: a fixed-term lease renews tacitly for the same period unless either side says in writing, at least 30 days before it ends, that it won't renew. The Housing Lease Act doesn't cover leaving a fixed-term lease early, so check what your contract says; the exceptions in the Obligations Act are in our guide to ending a lease.
• Condition: the landlord hands over a flat fit to live in and pays for necessary repairs, which you must report. A record of the flat's condition is made at handover. You return the flat as you received it, apart from normal wear, and you need the landlord's written consent for alterations and consent to sublet.
• Access: you must let the landlord in for necessary repairs and to check how the flat is used. The Act sets no notice periodNotice 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, so agree one in the lease.

The landlord reports the lease to Porezna uprava within 8 days; our checklist for landlords has the details.

In July 2026 the Government presented a draft new Housing Lease Act. It hasn't been passed, so this guide describes the law in force. We'll update it if that changes.

Agency fees since July 2026

A new Real Estate Brokerage Act (Zakon o posredovanju u prometu nekretnina, NN 69/2026) has applied since 7 July 2026. For tenants it means:

• An agency can charge you a fee only if you've signed a written brokerage contract with it.
• It can't make a viewing depend on you signing one first. Signing a viewing confirmation isn't a brokerage contract and doesn't oblige you to pay.
• It can't ask for any part of its fee in advance: the fee is earned only once the lease it brokered is signed (or a pre-contract, if you agreed that).
• The amount is set by the contract, which must state the fee and any extra costs, and the agency's dated price list is part of it; the law sets no cap. If the agency has contracts with both you and the landlord, it must tell you each fee and the total in writing before you sign, and if only you pay, it may charge you at most half of its price-list fee.

On NajamStanova.com you can show only listings with no agency fee or listings from owners. Where a listing doesn't mention a fee, we show “not stated”, never zero.

Utilities and other monthly costs

The law sets no split of the bills: the lease must say which living costs you pay and how. Ask to see recent bills before you sign.

• Electricity: the grid-use contract with HEP ODS can be transferred to you on its form 8 (Zahtjev 8 – prijenos ugovora). You name your chosen supplier, attach the lease, and give both your and the current holder's OIBOIB (personal identification number)Croatia's personal identification number, a permanent identifier used in official records. Croatians get it at birth; foreigners when there's a reason to.Source: Porezna uprava: Osobni identifikacijski broj (OIB), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary and a meter reading no older than 10 days.
• Gas: Zagreb's gas network is run by Gradska plinara Zagreb.
• Waste collection: billed by Čistoća, which can change the payer to you on the basis of the lease.
• Building 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: paid by the flat's owner under the law on building management.
• Communal fee (komunalna naknada)Communal 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: the owner pays it unless a written contract makes you responsible.
• TV and radio licence feeHRT licence fee (HRT pristojba)The monthly fee for public television and radio. A household with a radio or TV pays one fee, however many sets it has, on HRT's own bill.Source: HRT: Pristojba, checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary (HRT pristojba): one per household that has a TV or radio set.
• Internet and phone: your own contracts.

We don't give typical amounts, because we can't source them reliably. On every listing we show the costs the advertiser states, and “not stated” where they don't.

If you're bringing a car, the zones and the resident parking permit are explained in our guide to parking for tenants, and the internet contract and moving a line in our guide to internet in a rented flat.

Avoiding rental scams

In January 2026, Zagreb police reported a man who answered social-media posts from people looking for a flat, posed as a landlord or agent for a flat in Trešnjevka and took rent in advance. The door code he gave didn't work. Our advice:

• See the flat, and meet the landlord or agent, before you pay anything.
• Don't pay someone who says they're abroad and will send you the keys.
• Check who owns the flat: ask to see the land-registry extract (vlasnički list) and compare the owner's name with the ID of the person you're dealing with.
• Remember that an agency can't take its fee in advance.
• If a rent looks far below what similar flats cost, compare it with rents by neighbourhood and the price bar on each listing.

Where to search

NajamStanova.com brings long-term rentalsLong-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 from Zagreb agency websites and from owners together in one place, in Croatian and English, with a bar on each listing that shows how its price compares with similar flats. Agency listings show when we last saw them on the agency's site, so confirm availability with the advertiser.

Good places to start: furnished flats, flats for students and what renting costs in each part of Zagreb. Save a search to get new listings by push notification or email.

Frequently asked questions