New urbanistic plans

[Hale]

Can anyone give me some insight to the new urbanistic plans and planning permission in general as the whole process seems to be totally confusing.

We are looking at bare land in the Dubrovnik area that is in the designated building zone but there have been no plans for any development to take place. We would purchase this land on the basis of applying for planning permission. Now, I know, or at least i think i do, about Protected Building Zones where there are specifics about what you can build (normally one house and not many apartments) and the laws concerning the % of land that can be developed. However, there are whispers that land in the building zone can be rezoned almost overnight and there is no recourse if the owner has just paid development value for it. Is this true and, if so, does this mean that purchasing any bare land for potential development is a total lottery?

regards

Hale

[Karl]

The GUP (General Urbanistic Plans) and DUP (detailed Urbanistic Plans) are still not approved for the Dubrovnik Region and for many other in Croatia. Until the Local Elections are over this month then nothing is likely to progress. Once the elcetions are over then the GUP should be approved and then work on the DUP will start, but this work is unlikely to be completed before Spetember 2005. The DUP plans will be drawn up by a Croatian company, selected through a tendering process by the local council.

As it stands any land offered for sale can be rezoned with out any consultation with the owners of that land. This can and does cause problems.

If land is in a current Building Zone (Residental, Touristic or Commercial) then a permit applications MAY be approved before the new DUP is in place. The only probelm with this is that should fail to get your application in in time you could end up with worthless land or the type of property you want to build may not be possible. In addition, you may not get the relevant Construction permit, even if you have a Location permit.

We offer a Land Investigation Service that produces a detailed report on the plot you are interested in. This Investigation will identify the current zoning for the land, the future potential zoning for the land and the type and style of building you can build there. Based on this report you can make an informed decision as to the true value of the land and your desire to proceed with the purchase. This Investigation will also reveal any potential developments in the immediate area that may affect your property i.e. Motorway, major roads, planned commercial development etc.

Further details can be found at www.adriaticpropertyservices.com or you can mail me - [e-mail] or call me on [phone] or 01276 818011 (Uk number routed to Croatia, but not 100% reliable)

Something to consider for anyone looking to purhcase land in Croatia - A solicitor CANNOT tell you any of the information I have detailed above. Over here solicitors do not preform Local Searches, they only ensure that the land you are buying has Clean Title and that there are no DEBTS on the land.

Good luck to everyone looking to buy in Croatia, as some one who has done it and made the move I can only say that in my case, the grass was a lot greener.

Regards

Karl