Free of charge building land and public utility infrastructure

Family members of deceased, imprisoned or missing Croatian veterans and disabled Croatian Homeland War veterans have the right to building land and public utility infrastructure free of charge or to exemption from part of the costs of municipal contribution

Local self-government units are required to provide you with building land and public utility infrastructure free of charge if you are:

• a member of the family of a deceased, detained or missing Croatian Homeland War veteran
• disabled Croatian Homeland War veteran with permanently established status
• a member of the immediate family of a deceased disabled Croatian Homeland War veteran.

Requirements for the recognition of rights

The prerequisite for exercising this right is that you are a beneficiary of a housing loan or financial aid for the construction of a family house in the place where you resided at the time you suffered the injury, or in the place where you have resided continuously for five years since 1991.

You may also exercise the right in the place where you have lived as a displaced person for five or more years if you declare in a written statement under civil and criminal liability that you want to settle there permanently because you are connected to that place by family and other circumstances.
 
Persons referred to in Article 83, paragraph 4 of this Act are also entitled to public utility infrastructure for a residential building if they are entitled to a housing loan or financial aid for the purchase of a flat or house and to improve living conditions in the said house or flat, as well as persons who did not apply for housing if it is established in a special procedure that they would have that right, with the Ministry issuing an appropriate certificate thereof.

In the case referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 87 of the Act, local self-government units are also required  to bear the costs of the municipal contribution, i.e. recovery thereof for the appropriate GDA (gross developed area). 

Assignment of building land free of charge

The right to assignment of building land free of charge is demonstrated by a decision on granting a housing loan or financial aid for the construction of a family house, which will indicate in its statement of grounds that the beneficiary of the housing loan has the right to be assigned building land by a particular local self-government unit free of charge. The beneficiary of a housing loan for the construction of a family house who owns their own building land does not have this right.

If the statement of grounds of the decision does not indicate that the beneficiary of the housing loan has the right to be assigned building land by a local self-government unit free of charge, as the beneficiary of such a loan you may apply to the Ministry of Croatian Veterans to issue an appropriate certificate.

With the decision on granting a housing loan for the construction of a family house, i.e. with the appropriate certificate, you apply the local self-government unit to exercise the established right.

Exemption from payment of municipal contribution

The application for the issuance of a certificate for the public utility infrastructure for a residential building or exemption from the payment of the municipal contribution should be submitted to the Ministry of Croatian Veterans.

In a special procedure, the Ministry of Croatian Veterans will determine whether you have the right in question and, if so, it will issue an appropriate certificate. The issued certificate should be submitted to the competent office in the local self-government unit, according to the place where the property for which you are requesting the aforementioned right is located.

You can download the certificate application form on the Housing Matters page of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans website in the segment of the text entitled Forms or here in the Documents section.