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Land for sale &
Properties to renovate
in Croatia
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 Land for sale
In Croatia’s estate agents and particularly in small advert magazines, such as Mali Oglasnik, you’ll find a lot of land for sale. Unless explicitly stated, most of this land will not have a building permit. Croatia is very determined today to protect its natural and architectural heritage and consequently has very strict regulations concerning building on new land. The further the land is from an urban zone the harder it will be to get a building permit, and for some land it might never be possible. So, unless you are very big risk taker, your best choice is to buy land which already has a building permit. Being in the possession of, or obtaining, a building permit is only the first hurdle in the building process, you will still have to get planning permission for the building itself. Providing the building doesn’t exceed five stories high and it satisfies building safety regulations this is mostly a question of time and patience. Generally, planning permission takes from between one and two years, perhaps longer if it is a big project of 20 or more apartments. After a delay of a few months you are advised to keep in regular contact with the planning authorities to check up on the progress of your project, otherwise it will remain in the waiting tray indefinitely!
Old Properties to renovate
Everyone’s dream, it seems, is to buy an old property to renovate on the Mediterranean coast, perhaps with a vineyard or a bit of land. This perfectly possible in Croatia but you need first to know where to look. Croatia was for most of its mediaeval history under the threat of invasion, particularly from the Ottomans, and part of the psychology of the town planners of this time was to protect its population in fortified towns. This is still where you’ll where you’ll find the bulk of Croatia’s architectural heritage and also old properties to renovate, but, of course, you won’t find any vineyards there! In the countryside of the mainland away from the coast old villages are surprisingly sparse and consiquently so are old properties. They are there but you have to look very hard for them. The islands offered their own natural protection against invaders so more properties were built outside of towns here and this will be where you’ll have the best chance of finding your dream cottage, possibly with your own little vineyard too!
Old properties to renovate can often be very cheap but will often be without any electricity or mains water, so one has to look carefully into the costs of getting these services to your house. With most of Croatia being mountainous and quite rugged it can be very expensive, but it might well be a price worth paying for the peace and quiet of the countryside. This category also includes more recent properties, perhaps built in the 1960s, which are in need of a bit of touching up.
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