Subletting in Croatia: can a tenant sublet a flat or a room?

What subletting is, and who's who

Subletting (podnajam)Subletting (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 is when a tenant lets the flat they rent, all or part of it, such as a room, to someone else (Housing Lease Act, Art. 28(1)). The terms in the law are:

• landlord (najmodavac)Landlord (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 owner who lets the flat
• tenant (najmoprimac)Tenant (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 person renting from the owner, in everyday Croatian a 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
• subtenant (podnajmoprimac): the person the tenant sublets to, who pays them sub-rent (podnajamnina)

The lease binds the landlord and the tenant; the sublease binds the tenant and the subtenant. Besides the Housing Lease Act (Arts. 19 and 28), the Zakon o obveznim odnosima (Obligations Act, Arts. 551 and 567–569) applies. All the words of a lease are in landlord and tenant in Croatian. Your other rights are in tenant rights, and the draft new act hadn't been passed by 20 October 2026.

The landlord's consent, and notice without it

Without the landlord's consent the tenant may not 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 (Art. 28(1)) or hand the flat over for someone else's use on any other basis (Obligations Act, Art. 567(1)). The law sets no form for the consent, but get it in writing, naming the subtenant, the part of the flat and the period (our advice).

Subletting without permission is a ground for ending the lease (Art. 19(1) point 2):

1. 1The landlord warns the tenant in writing to put it right within 30 days (Art. 19(2)). No warning is needed if the tenant has breached the lease or the Act more than twice (Art. 19(3)).
2. 2The landlord then gives notice in writing, with reasons, against the tenant's signature or by registered post. The 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 is three months from the first day of the month after the notice arrives (Art. 22(1) and (2)).
3. 3If the tenant doesn't move out, the landlord can sue for evictionMoving out and eviction (iseljenje)simplifiedThe tenant leaving the flat at the end of a lease. If they don't leave, the landlord can sue, and a court officer carries out the eviction, never the landlord.Source: Ovršni zakon (NN 112/12 … 06/24), čl. 255.–258., checked 24 Oct 2026More in the glossary, and by law the case is urgent (Art. 22(4) and (5)).

Someone not named in the lease living there over 30 days without permission is a separate ground, apart from the close family and carers the Act lists (Art. 19(1) point 4). More in our guide to ending a lease.

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 is stricter: the state agency APN can end the lease if the tenant sublets the flat or part of it, and the Act makes no exception for consent (Affordable Housing Act, Art. 50(7)). More in our guide to affordable rent.

The sublease, tax and reporting

A lease of real property is made in writing (Obligations Act, Art. 552), and as we read it that covers a subleaseSubletting (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 too. The tenant sends it, and every change of sub-rent, to Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration), and sends the sublease to the landlord (Housing Lease Act, Art. 28(2)).

Sub-rent is your income from property (Pravilnik o porezu na dohodak, 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, Art. 67(1)). As we read it, the rules for rent apply:

• The tax is 12% on 70% of the sub-rent, because expenses are a flat 30%. That's 8.4% of the sub-rent, paid monthly on a Tax Administration decision (Zakon o porezu na dohodak, the Income Tax Act, Arts. 57(1) and 62(1)).
• You send the contract and every change to your Tax Administration office within 8 days. If a notary certified your signature on the contract or 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 it, the notary sends it instead (Art. 62(7) and (8)).
• As we read it, you can't deduct the rent you pay your landlord separately, because expenses are a flat rate; the Tax Administration said as much in 2004, under the Act then in force, about a flat sublet to the tenant's own company. On request, the income can be worked out from books instead (Art. 55(4)).

If sub-rent isn't reported, the Tax Administration can set it at market prices (Art. 60(1)). Estimate the tax in the rental tax calculator; the steps are in our lease-reporting checklist.

Anyone who lets another person use a flat for more than three months must give the police that person's details and the flat's address within 15 days, or face a fine of €60 to €660 (Zakon o prebivalištu, the Residence Act, Arts. 10(4) and 16). As we read it, that includes a subletting tenant.

Flatmates: a sublet, a name on the lease or a lease of your own

A flat lease is made with one person, or exceptionally with both spouses (Housing Lease Act, Art. 4(1)), so the Act doesn't provide for two flatmates as joint tenants. It doesn't say what a lease signed by both means. What it does provide:

• The landlord names the flatmate in the lease as someone using the flat with the tenant (Art. 5 point 5).
• The landlord lets each person part of the flat, such as a room, under a separate lease (Arts. 1 and 5 point 2). Then everyone is a tenant.
• The tenant subletsSubletting (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 room to the flatmate, with the landlord's consent (Art. 28).

As we read it, a flatmate who pays their share to the tenant rather than the landlord can be a subtenant even if named in the lease, so the safest option is the landlord's written consent to the sublet too. The rent split calculator works out who pays what.

In a block of flats, housing more than four adults who aren't related in a direct line or as siblings needs the prior written consent of co-owners holding more than two-thirds of the shares and of every neighbour whose walls, floors or ceilings border the flat, whoever lets it (Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada, the Building Management and Maintenance Act, Arts. 4(1) point 2 and 35(1)).

If you're the subtenant: what to check

You sign with the tenant, not the owner, and your position depends on their lease. Before you pay or move in (our advice):

1. 1Ask for the landlord's written consent and check when the lease ends. A subleaseSubletting (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 ends in any case when the lease does (Obligations Act, Art. 569).
2. 2Pay by bank transfer. To collect what the tenant owes, the landlord may ask you directly for what you owe the tenant under the sublease (Art. 568).
3. 3Put the term, notice, 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 its return date in the sublease. As we read it, the tenant you paid the deposit to owes it back, because the landlord isn't a party to the sublease.
4. 4Record the state of your room when you move in, for example in the handover report, and check the rest against our lease checklist.

Registering your address needs the stanodavac's (housing provider's) certified consent or their consent given at the police (Residence Act, Art. 10(3)), and gov.hr describes the stanodavac as the owner. Official sources don't say whether the tenant can consent for you, so ask the owner (address registration, guide for foreigners).

Only a zaštićeni 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 (protected subtenant), with that status from before 5 November 1996, has a special position. Art. 47 of the Housing Lease Act, which let them keep the status through any change of tenant or landlord, ceased to apply on 1 January 2025, and their position is now governed by the Statileo enforcement act (NN 36/2024, Arts. 2(4), 4(1) point 29 and 58(1)). An ordinary subtenant has no such position (protected tenants).

Short-term letting to tourists

The Housing Lease Act doesn't apply when a flat is used for temporary accommodation, such as for tourists (Art. 27). Under the Zakon o ugostiteljskoj djelatnosti (Hospitality Act), approval for household accommodation goes to the owner or, with the owner's written consent, their spouse, cohabiting or life partner, direct-line relative or family member (Arts. 30(3) point 1 and 34(2) and (3)). A tenant as such isn't among them.

A short-term letShort-term letting (kratkoročni najam)simplifiedLetting a flat or part of one as temporary accommodation for less than 30 days, for example to tourists. In a block of flats it needs the co-owners' written consent.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 4., 34. i 58., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary is one of less than 30 days (Building Management and Maintenance Act, Art. 4(1) point 5). In a block of flats it needs the prior written consent of co-owners holding more than two-thirds of the shares and of every bordering neighbour, both for the owner and for anyone else who means to use the flat that way (Art. 34(1)).

The owner isn't freed of liability for the offence by having let the flat to someone else (Art. 34(3)). A co-owner who is a private individual faces a fine of €1,000 to €5,500 for short-term letting without consent (Art. 58(9)).

The landlord's consent is needed as well (Obligations Act, Art. 567(1)), and using the flat for purposes other than housing is a separate ground for notice (Housing Lease Act, Art. 19(1) point 5). Costs are compared in short-term vs long-term letting.

Frequently asked questions