The Ombudswoman, Tena Šimonović Einwalter, participated on 13 and 14 November 2024 in thematic sessions of the Committee on Physical Planning and Construction and the Committee on Labour, Pension System, and Social Partnership, dedicated to the presentation of the National Housing Policy Plan of the Republic of Croatia until 2030, with a focus on affordable housing.
The right to adequate housing is a human right guaranteed by multiple international documents and is also a key issue in the work of our institution. Since 2017, we have been actively highlighting problems related to housing in Croatia and proposing solutions, including the adoption of a strategic document that outlines the legal and institutional framework in the field of housing, as well as assessing the current and future needs of citizens and vulnerable groups. Because the right to dignified housing implies a home as a foundation of stability and security for individuals and families, housing policy must be part of general policy, as it intersects with economic and social policies, regional development, environmental protection, and more.
The right to housing is both an economic and social right, and there is often a misunderstanding about the role of the state in this context—the role is not for the state to allocate or build a home for everyone, but rather to regulate housing issues adequately through legislation and policy.
This includes the regulation and provision of both affordable housing and social housing. This means that the state and local self-government units have the obligation to develop policies to ensure access to affordable housing for different categories of citizens, which may include appropriate tax policy, provision of subsidies and reliefs, availability of infrastructure, construction of publicly rented apartments, putting publicly owned apartments into residential use, and designing effective measures to prevent homelessness. The majority of people who become homeless cite the inability to afford housing costs as the main reason for losing their homes.
Citizens face numerous problems related to housing, which is why they turn to the Ombudswoman. Some of these issues include high purchase and rental prices, insufficient number and often poor condition of public rental apartments, lengthy procedures related to state-owned property, especially for housing provision in assisted areas, difficulties in finding long-term rentals in tourist centers due to the more profitable short-term rental market, lack of knowledge about the rights and responsibilities of tenants/landlords, and inadequately addressed social housing issues.
Young people, pensioners, families with several children, workers in precarious employment, persons with disabilities, persons under international protection, foreign workers, and members of the Roma national minority are among those most affected by the current housing market situation and the previous lack of a systematic housing policy. However, an increasing number of people who do not fall into socially vulnerable categories are also facing affordability issues.
The adoption of a strategic document such as the National Housing Plan is certainly a positive step, and one that the Ombudswoman has been advocating for over the years, especially in light of numerous housing-related challenges.
However, as procedures for amending or adopting certain regulations intended to implement the objectives of this National Plan are underway, the Ombudswoman pointed out that the current sequence—proposing regulatory changes before adopting a fundamental strategic document—is not optimal. It is difficult to thoroughly analyze draft laws that are in public consultation or parliamentary procedure and assess whether their implementation will achieve the desired objectives in the absence of a valid strategic document that outlines all other housing policy measures, and while information on other activities and their interdependence remains insufficient.
An example demonstrating openness to public consultation feedback can be seen in the case of the Local Taxes Act. After the Ombudswoman explained that, given ownership entails responsibility—including for the state as a property owner—it would send the wrong message and be inconsistent to exempt the state from paying property tax, the provision was amended in the Final Proposal of the Act on Amendments to the Local Taxes Act, which we welcome.
However, some of the Ombudswoman’s proposals were not accepted. For instance, the Final Proposal of the Act on Building Management and Maintenance still prescribes a ban on installing cooling and heating devices, renewable energy sources, and antenna systems on building facades, as well as pipes, cables, and related equipment. The Ombudswoman emphasized that although the visual appearance of buildings is important, due to the health effects of temperature—especially on young children, older adults, persons with disabilities, and medically vulnerable individuals with chronic conditions—cooling/heating devices in the context of climate change are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Among all extreme weather events, heatwaves are most strongly associated with population morbidity and a high mortality rate, representing a significant and globally recognized public health concern.
Furthermore, the law stipulates that if more than four adults who are not related in a direct or collateral line up to the second degree are to be housed in one unit, prior written consent of a two-thirds majority of co-owners is required, along with mandatory consent from all co-owners whose walls, floors, or ceilings border the specific unit intended for such rental.
The Ombudswoman has warned that this provision will in practice primarily affect foreign or migrant workers and may lead to discriminatory effects in the area of housing. Discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin is prohibited in Croatia under the Constitution, the Anti-Discrimination Act, EU law, Directive 2000/43, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and international law such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. There is also a justified concern as to where people who come to work in Croatia will ultimately live—especially in cities where apartment living is predominant—and whether such legal solutions could lead to the formation of segregated settlements on the outskirts of cities, inhabited (exclusively or predominantly) by foreign workers, resulting in ghettoization.
Additionally, a new law is being drafted—the Foreigners Act—after which a bylaw is expected to regulate the accommodation of foreign workers. At this point, the legal framework for the housing of foreign workers remains undefined and unclear. The Ombudswoman has emphasized the need to consider the long-term perspective for housing foreign workers, bearing in mind that ghettoization harms both the workers and the local population.
Finally, it appears that the presented National Housing Plan omits the issue of social housing, which is one of the state’s obligations. Many socially vulnerable individuals cannot resolve their housing needs through the market. Therefore, the area of social housing in Croatia must be properly regulated, as housing for socially vulnerable groups is currently governed by various regulations and across different sectors, making it difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issue and propose more effective solutions. This is why the matter must be addressed appropriately and without delay, and concrete comments and proposals regarding the National Plan as a whole will be submitted during the public consultation.
More information on the right to adequate housing can be found in the Ombudswoman’s Annual Report.