The two associations issued a press release on Tuesday asking for the authorities to establish whether the tenants in question used to own or still own or have sold any real estate in Croatia or in the area of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The two associations believe that all who have sold their private property or still own real estate cannot qualify for the right of tenants of the so-called socially owned flats.
The Croatian government recently decided to build 3,600 apartments and purchase another 400 for Serb returnees, former tenancy rights holders living in areas that were not directly affected by the 1991-1995 war. Preparations will be completed by the end of this year, and about 120 apartment buildings will be constructed by the end of 2011, with about 3,600 apartments for lease on a public-private partnership basis.
So far 4,425 applications for property restitution have been filed by people who previously lived in so-called socially-owned apartments, and it has been assessed that about 4,000 apartments need to be built or bought. The government has to secure a total of 3.07 billion kuna for the implementation of this project.
Under the plan, the returnees will be given the state-owned flats and they cannot sell them and their successors cannot inherit them.