Croatia Advances Affordable Housing Initiatives With European Investment Bank Advisory Partnership

Croatia Advances Affordable Housing Initiatives With European Investment Bank Advisory Partnership

(IN BRIEF) The European Investment Bank has completed a one-year advisory programme supporting Croatia’s five largest cities in accelerating the development of affordable and social housing projects. The initiative helped municipalities prepare implementation-ready housing strategies, financing plans, project pipelines, and governance frameworks aligned with Croatia’s new Affordable Housing Act and broader European housing initiatives. The programme supported Zagreb, Split, Osijek, Varaždin, and Rijeka in strengthening local institutional capacity and creating sustainable investment models for future housing development. The advisory work forms part of wider European efforts to expand affordable housing availability, improve energy efficiency, and address housing affordability challenges across the European Union.

(PRESS RELEASE) ZAGREB, 13-May-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — European Investment Bank has completed a one-year advisory initiative aimed at helping Croatia’s five largest cities accelerate the planning and delivery of affordable and social housing projects in response to rising housing pressures across the country.

The programme supported the cities of Zagreb, Split, Osijek, Varaždin, and Rijeka by providing strategic guidance, implementation tools, and investment planning support designed to speed up the construction of more affordable homes.

The advisory assignment was delivered through the InvestEU Advisory Hub and focused on helping municipalities develop implementation-ready housing strategies, project pipelines, and action plans tailored to local housing needs. The EIB stated that the programme combined analytical support with practical tools intended to strengthen local planning capacity and improve the long-term financial and institutional sustainability of housing investments.

The initiative also aimed to help Croatian municipalities better implement the country’s new Affordable Housing Act and align local projects with broader national housing policy objectives and European Union housing initiatives.

Marko Primorac, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, stated that the programme was designed to strengthen the ability of Croatian towns and municipalities to plan, manage, and implement affordable housing projects more efficiently. He added that improving local institutional capacity, financing models, and partnership structures would help accelerate the development of affordable homes across the country.

Tomislav Ćorić, Croatia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, described affordable housing as one of the country’s key social and economic priorities. He noted that the Croatian government is implementing measures through its National Housing Policy Plan and Affordable Housing Act aimed at increasing housing accessibility, supporting long-term rental markets, and promoting a more balanced housing system.

As part of the programme, the EIB developed city-specific action plans, institutional capacity assessments, and project selection tools that remain available for future use by participating municipalities. According to the EIB, the framework created through the advisory assignment can also be replicated by other municipalities throughout Croatia seeking to expand affordable housing projects.

The initiative forms part of broader European efforts to address housing shortages, improve housing affordability, and promote sustainable urban development across European Union member states. The programme complements the European Commission’s European Affordable Housing Plan, which seeks to mobilize investment in affordable and social housing while addressing housing exclusion and social inequality.

The EIB Group stated that housing remains a strategic priority across Europe and noted that it has invested more than €18 billion in affordable and sustainable housing projects across the European Union over the past five years. In 2026, the institution plans to further increase support for affordable housing projects to approximately €6 billion.

The EIB added that it will continue working with the European Commission, national governments, municipalities, and promotional banks to expand investments in energy-efficient, sustainable, and affordable housing projects that contribute to social cohesion and improved quality of life.

Background information

EIB Group 

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investments union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.

In 2023, the EIF together with six Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands) launched the European Tech Champions Initiative, a fund-of-funds to scale up innovative startups. To date, this initiative has already enabled the creation of 15 European venture capital mega-funds and scaled up 430 companies, including 11 unicorns (with more than €1 billion in capital).

Photos of the EIB Group’s representatives and headquarters, logo files and video B-roll for media use are available here.

EIB Advisory

In addition to financing, the EIB Group offers advisory services that help public and private clients develop markets, build capacity and support high impact investment projects. In 2025, EIB Advisory helped accelerate project delivery and crowd in finance for 179 projects worth more than €80 billion in the European Union and beyond.

InvestEU

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps crowd in private investment for the European Union’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Media contacts:

Tibor Jona
t.jona@eib.org
+352 4379 84105

Press Office
press@eib.org
+352 4379 21000
www.eib.org/press

SOURCE: European Investment Bank