How to check a property in Croatia before buying: cadastre, land register and Geoportal

Buying a house, a holiday home or land in Croatia? Before signing a preliminary contract, half an hour at the computer can save you months of trouble. Croatian public registers are available online — you just need to know where to look and what to look for.

1. Uređena zemlja — OSS (cadastre and land register)

The joint land-register and cadastre information system is available at oss.uredjenazemlja.hr. You can search a parcel by cadastral municipality and number and view:

• the cadastral extract (posjedovni list) — area, land use, registered possessors,
• the land-register extract (zemljišnoknjižni izvadak) — owners, co-ownership shares and encumbrances (mortgages, easements, notes).

What to look for:

• Is the seller the same person as the registered owner?
• Are there encumbrances — a mortgage, usufruct, a note of a dispute?
• Does the area match what the seller tells you?
• Is the building registered at all, or does the extract only say “arable land” or “yard”?

2. The State Geodetic Administration Geoportal

At geoportal.dgu.hr you can see the parcel on a digital orthophoto map (aerial image) with cadastral boundaries overlaid.

It is a great way to spot mismatches:

• Does the house, garage or fence cross the parcel boundary?
• Is there access from a public road, or only across someone else’s land?
• Is there a building on the image that is not recorded in the cadastre?

Note: boundaries on the Geoportal come from the cadastral plan and are not always precise. If the difference matters — and when buying it always does — a field survey is needed.

3. The spatial plan

Planning to build or extend? Check which spatial-plan zone the parcel lies in (building zone, agricultural land, protected area). Spatial plans are published on local-government websites and in the ministry’s spatial-planning system.

The most common red flags

• A building exists on site but is not registered in the land register.
• The cadastre and land register state different areas or shapes of the parcel.
• The fence doesn’t follow the boundary — a neighbour uses part of your parcel or vice versa.
• An easement for access or utilities is registered on the parcel.
• The seller offers “part of a parcel” that has not yet been subdivided.

None of this necessarily means you should walk away — but it does mean you need a clear plan for resolving it, with a timeline and cost, before signing.

When to call a surveyor

If you have spotted any of the issues above, or simply want certainty — a field survey compared with the cadastre gives an answer no online map can. A surveyor will tell you whether the situation on site matches the registers and what needs to be done: recording the building, subdivision or boundary correction.

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Buying property in Bilje, Osijek or the surrounding area? Contact us before you sign — we’ll check the parcel on paper and on site. More about our services: existing buildings and land services.