The government in Croatia has decided to introduce new rules that drastically affect the real estate market. Landlords must obtain the consent of their neighbors to rent out an apartment, and those who do not comply with the new law pay a fine of up to 10.000 euros, writes index, hr.
The most resounding part of the new law is the restriction of renting apartments in buildings, whether it is a short-term (tourist) rental or a rental to workers, he writes.ndex.hr.
Therefore, Croats are well on their way to limiting the mass rental of apartments by legislation.
Other tenants also ask about renting an apartment, fines of up to 10.000 euros
With the application of this Law, those who rent out their apartments through platforms such as AirBnB or Booking, which significantly affect rent prices, would suffer the most.
In order to rent an apartment to tourists or foreign workers, landlords will have to obtain the consent of 80% of the co-owners. The provisions of this article stipulate that the consent of the qualified majority of the tenants of that residential building is required for the provision of an apartment for short-term rent and/or rent for workers.
A fine of 2.000 to 10.000 euros is prescribed for those co-owners who rent an apartment without the consent of the qualified majority of co-owners for short-term rental apartments and/or rental apartments for workers.
The proposal of the law was criticized and protested by landlords, with the argument that "neighbors have no right to decide what the owner will do with his apartment".
Building managers - without authorization
Meanwhile, on the Serbian real estate market, everyone dictates their own rules. No one controls the short-term rental of apartments to tourists and workers, while the rent is twice as high as before the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
The main problem is that in Serbia, real estate owners are the only ones responsible for everything that happens in the apartment, says the president of the Association of Professional Managers, Ljubiša Banovacki.
"It is logical that landlords, especially if they own several properties, want to commercialize their apartments. This can be done through short-term letting, through Booking or AirBnB or long-term. When it comes to long-term rental, the amount of rent is negotiated directly with the tenants", says Banovacki.
The rights and obligations of landlords and tenants are defined by the contract between these two parties, but still, in most cases, apartments are rented "on the black" and based on a verbal agreement.
"We, as professional administrators, have no authority and no obligations in this relationship. Managers do not have the right to legitimize persons living in apartments, so the only interaction with tenants is if there is a problem or malfunction in the apartment", says our interlocutor.
Serbia could emulate Croatia
When it comes to the example of Croatia and the new proposal of the Law of their Government, Banovacki says that this proposal can significantly contribute to the quality of life and the interest of the entire housing community.
"Everyone who has an apartment in a building is in the interest of knowing who their neighbor is and that everyone participates together in improving living conditions. Better legal regulation is necessary in Serbia"; he thinks.
The changes foreseen by the amendments to the Law on Housing and Building Maintenance are only partially consistent with the Croatian Draft Law.
"The amendment to the Law stipulates that the owner of the apartment has the consent of the housing association only if he wants to rent out the apartment to a legal entity, e.g. law office, gym or travel agency. In those cases, the consent of 50 percent of the other tenants is required."
He concludes that there is still a lot of work to be done on amendments to this Act in Serbia, and that we are far from our neighbors in this area.
Legal review on controlled rent
There was an initiative to improve housing conditions and the Law on Housing and Building Maintenance itself, although they have not yet taken root.
One of the authors of the legal proposal on controlled rent is Svetislav Kostić, a professor at the Faculty of Law.
He currently says that the legal rules on how often and for what exact percentage rent can be paid are in force in many European cities, and that this proposal would significantly improve living conditions in large cities.
"This measure is of great help when urban environments become too expensive for ordinary people to live. This limits the growth of rents to a reasonable extent. We currently have a big problem due to the fact that now, due to the price of rent, many students are giving up their education in Belgrade, and the market is completely unorganized", says Kostić.
It all started, he claims, when there was a huge influx of Russian and Ukrainian citizens, which motivated landlords to use it to significantly increase their income.
"At that time, we drafted the entire Law on Housing, and limiting rents would be only one of the elements of the new housing policy. It is necessary to introduce the mandatory notarization of the lease agreement, as one of the measures".
AirBnB - a threat to the real estate market and tourism
As Kostić says, a short-term loan is a very special category, which does not greatly threaten the residential community of a building, nor potential tenants, but mostly affects the field of tourism.
"AirBnB has an impact on the increase in rents, but indirectly. Apartments that are normally leased for a longer period of time are thus withdrawn from the market. They are no longer offered for long-term rent, but mostly to tourists," says Kostić.
Such apartments, therefore, affect the reduction of the entire offer of residential buildings on the market, but also represent a great competition for hotels and motels.
Tax evasion that no one checks
The director of the YUTA travel agency, Aleksandar Seničić, previously told Vreme that the AirBnB platform carries with it a number of dangers, because no one controls this type of rental, which leads to various tax frauds.
Precisely because of this, but also because of the lack of housing space and insane rent prices, many countries have banned or limited the rental of accommodation on such platforms, unless it is a question of hotels, motels and other official facilities.
"The only one who can control this is the tourist inspection, and that is by having the inspectors go to some accommodation themselves. They apply for a stay there through the platform, and check on the spot whether the owners have the necessary documents", explains our interlocutor.
He adds that such leases represent a serious problem, considering that the income is not reported and the landlords are committing a criminal offense for which they can be prosecuted - tax evasion.
