May the 9th, 2022 - Brexit resulted in more questions than it did answers, and whatever side of the fence you happen to be on, be it Bremain or Brexit, we can all likely agree on that. British nationals living across the EU ended up in strange and often unclear positions overnight, with very real legal and financial worries on their plates. With that being said, can Brits purchase Croatian property now Brexit is done, dusted and in the past? Yes.
''Can Brits purchase Croatian property?'' is a question that I see often, and the answers provided are somewhat vague. Given that the United Kingdom is no longer an EU member state, British citizens are no longer EU citizens, meaning that certain rights which were once afforded to them merely by being the holders of British passports no longer apply. Brits can no longer take up residence in Croatia with a quite registration and the flash of a UK passport like they once could, and only those Brits who were here before Brexit and who have acquired rights are still treated like EU citizens.
Up until February the 1st, 2020, ironically just before the global coronavirus pandemic reached Europe and caused havoc like we've never seen before, Brits could purchase property in Croatia as they were EU citizens. The same continued to be true between that aforementioned date and the 31st of December, 2020, during a transition period when all EU law continued to apply to the UK as it slowly made its way out of the bloc of which it had been a leading, powerful and wealthy member for over 40 years.
During the UK's transition period out of the EU, British (and as such EU) nationals were free to purchase Croatian property without having to get any particular permissions and without having to engage in anything out of the ordinary. This applied to all property with the exception of what was classed as ''property and real estate in protected areas'' and agricultural land. Then came January the 1st, 2021, and everything changed for Britain. That was the real D-Day, when the UK ceased to be a member of any kind of the EU, the transition period ended at midnight (Central European Time) on the 31st of December, 2020.
The answer to the question of: Can Brits purchase Croatian property? was expected to change, but it didn't alter all that much. In short, yes they can, but that desired property absolutely needs to be classed as a residential property, and for that it must be in a certain ''zone''. This is all based on reciprocity agreements held between the Republic of Croatia and various other countries, and this functions in the British sense much like it did before Croatia joined the EU back in July 2013.
A tip for looking this sort of agreement up in Croatian would be to Google: Uzajamnost za stjecanje prava vlasnistva na nekretninama u Republici Hrvatskoj.
It sounds a little bit complicated, but in reality it isn't. If a Croatian citizen can buy property in a certain country, then the citizens of whatever country that might be can typically do the same in Croatia, with certain conditions attached in each specific case. You also do not need to registered as a resident of Croatia in order to buy a property here.
So, what needs to be done?
Consent for the acquisition of ownership rights over Croatian property by foreign citizens who aren't nationals of the EU/EEA or an EFTA country requires what everyone in Croatia just adores - an administrative procedure. I can hear you jumping for joy just reading that. A Brit intending to buy a property here must first make a request to the Ministry of Justice.
In the case of a British citizen who isn't protected by the Withdrawal Agreement wanting to purchase a property here, this procedure is conducted at their request to purchase real estate. Again, that real estate needs to be ''zoned'' as residential, and Brits cannot purchase agricultural land, nor can they buy property situated in a so-called protected area.
An updated list of countries (aside from the UK) which comply with the reciprocity principle is available under Information on reciprocity in the acquisition of ownership rights of real estate between the Republic of Croatia and countries other than EU Member States, the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway or the Swiss Confederation.
The procedure is laid down in the provisions of the Act on Ownership and Other Real Rights and the Act on General Administrative Procedure. A mouthful, I know. Any submitted application must be written and then be submitted to the Registry and Archives Department. This can be done by post to the following address:
Croatian: Ministarstvo pravosudja i uprave Republike Hrvatske,
Uprava za gradjansko, trgovacko i upravno pravo
Ulica grada Vukovara 49, 10000, Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Republika Hrvatska
English: The Ministry of Justice and Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia,
The Directorate for Civil, Commercial and Administrative Law
City of Vukovar Street 49, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
The following documents must be enclosed along with your (written) application form:
- An acceptable legal basis for the acquisition of ownership (this can be a property purchase agreement, the deeds proving the property has been gifted to you, etc). These documents can be in their original form, or they can be certified copies.
- Proof of ownership from the seller of the property, such as a copy from the land register confirming their ownership.
- A certificate of the administrative body responsible for urban and physical planning, according to the location of the property, on the legal status of the property.
- Proof of the prospective owner's nationality (such as a certified copy of their passport showcasing their citizenship) or proof of legal entity status (evidence with a copy from the court register) if the prospective owner is a foreign legal entity.
- When the applicant is represented by an attorney-in-fact, the original power of attorney or a certified copy thereof must be submitted.
In certain cases, additional documentation will be sought from would-be buyers of Croatian property. It all depends on the individual request.
So, in short, the answer to Can Brits purchase Croatian property? is a resounding YES, given that all of the requirements for reciprocity have long been met. This was of course helped not only by the UK's recent EU membership, but also by the fact that Croatia is the EU's youngest member state and that many bilateral agreements between the UK and Croatia before Croatian EU accession were long-standing and clear.
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