Property
Land-registry title, notarised contracts and liberalised foreign acquisition
Ownership is transferred by contract plus registration in the land register, with the registry entry decisive. EU nationals may now acquire property on the same footing as Croatians, with agricultural land subject to specific rules.
Key rules
- Registration in the land register (zemljišna knjiga) is constitutive of ownership.
- Contracts of sale require notarised signatures to be registrable.
- EU citizens acquire real estate on equal terms, subject to restrictions on agricultural land.
Governing law
- Act on Ownership and Other Real Rights
- Land Registry Act (Zakon o zemljišnim knjigama)
In practice
The land register and the cadastre can disagree after decades of unrecorded transfers, so reconcile both before purchase.