Finding a longterm rental solution in Split or almost anywhere on the coast of Croatia has been a worrying issue in recent years. As the popularity of Croatia as a summer vacation place-to-go has grown, the vacation rental market has been growing even stronger. Unfortunately, the economic situation put a lot of locals in a position to take try to take advantage of high demand, and the convenience of online booking platforms for daily rentals has pushed many of them to start their rental "business". The result is that finding a room or an apartment at an approachable price has become a challenging task. With this in mind, you can only imagine how difficult is to find a longterm rental solution for your stay.
As the most common scenario, landlords rent their apartments to students between October and June, while between June and September, they rent them to tourists. In an ideal scenario, you will be able to find a landlord who will be willing to sign you a longterm rental agreement, but these are not that common. Unfortunately, there have even been cases in which some unreliable landlords would request tenants to leave the apartments before the end of the contract. But fear not! Today we will go through the rental market, check the prices and share some ideas on how to find your ideal renting solution in Split and surrounding areas.
Longterm rental prices in Split
If this blog post was written before 2020, the prices I share would be 50 to 100 percent lower. However, as we witness all around Europe, renting prices are skyrocketing in 2023, and Split is not an exception. Still compared to the Western European housing market it is much more affordable, that is if you have a salary to follow your expenses. I have written more about this in another article. Find out more about this topic in English speaking jobs in Croatia.
Instead of sharing some of the most usual rental prices that we see in the market today, I will rather share my opinion on the topic. I personally run under a rule that the renting price and additional bills don't overpass 40% of my monthly net revenue. To get an idea about bill costs check How to pay bills in Croatia article. Once you have a rough idea about this you won't have a hard time deciding what's over your budget.
Now let's take a look at what is out there. Naturally, as in every city, every town has neighborhoods that are more expensive compared to others. Luckily, Split is not a big town, with only around 180.000 citizens, which means commuting around the city and surrounding area won't take much of your time. Also, the majority of neighborhoods are very similar, so deciding where to rent is a bit easier in this regard. For more details about Neighborhoods in Split read the article I linked here.
For an average Croatian salary, renting prices between 200 EUR and 600 EUR are acceptable renting prices. The reality however is that for 200 EUR you might be able to find a room, but also that a threshold of 600 EUR is being pushed by the many landlords lately. Still, the majority of the apartments will still have a price of around 400 EUR. It is worth mentioning that these prices are net prices, and that they most often don't include any bills or utilities included. On the brighter side, the apartments in Croatia as almost always furnished, even with electronic and kitchen devices.
Best rental portals in Croatia
The majority of landlords publish their ads on two of the most popular classified portals in Croatia, which are Index Oglasi and Njuskalo.hr. Both of them are free of charge to use, but unfortunately, they don't offer English translation. I will share below some of the most common expressions you will need to know to navigate through your rental hunt. Further as a foreign you might want to try your luck with local real estate agencies. The prices will be higher (due to the agency's fee) but at least you will have proper assistance. Unfortunately, many of them only have basic websites or offers that are not up to date, so the safest way to check their offers is to contact them directly by phone or email. Lastly, you might want to try Facebook groups. There are many of those, but here are a couple that are more popular:
Renting outside Split
Smaller towns such as Solin, Kastela, Podstrana, or even more North in the continental part of Dalmatia, like Sinj are all valid options. If you work in Split getting to a workplace shouldn't take you longer than 30 to 60 minutes, depending where you live. Solin, for example, is developing the fastest and has the best infrastructure of all mentioned places. Others, like Kastela or Podstrana, are more oriented to privately owned houses, so be ready to rent a floor within the house in which the owner and his family also live. Here, the prices will be a bit lower, but more importantly, the competition will be lower too. Locals still prefer Split, especially for buying, so you might want to take this as a slight advantage and look in less popular areas. This however certainly doesn't mean that less popular is followed by less quality. In many cases renting outside Split will give you quieter surroundings, and more parking space - if nothing else.
Basic rental words in Croatian
Iznajmljivanje OR najam- both mean renting
Iznajmiti - to rent
bez agencije - without agency
provizija - fee
nekretnina - real estate
Jednosoban - oneroom
Dvosoban - tworoom
Trosoban - threeroom
Kuhinja - kitchen
Dnevni boravak - living room
Spavaća Soba - sleeping room
Kupatilo / Banj / Kupaonica - bathroom
opremljen OR namješten - both mean furnished
For more expressions check: Basic Croatian words to start with
Split is located in Splitsko-dalmatinska županija (county)
Here is a basic ad that you can write in Facebook Groups: "Tražim stan za dugoročni najam na području Splita i okolice. Cijena do ___ eura." (I am looking for an apartment to rent longterm in Split and in surroundings. Price up to ___ EUR.)
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