The benchmark rents will be increased in April. Then it’s time to dig deeper into the household budget. “The benchmarks are only part of the problem. You have to reorganize the whole system,” said Walter Rosifka, housing law expert at the Chamber of Labor (AK) in a live conversation with moderator Conny Winiwarter. A rent allowance could help. Fixed term leases are designed to keep people “vulnerable to blackmail”.
Up to 33 percent of income: This is how high the monthly living costs should be – “including energy costs and operating costs,” Rosifka explains. The reality is different: every third person tells Statistics Austria that they will barely be able to pay the rent for the next three months. The next blow comes in April: the increase in reference rents – by another 8.6 percent. “Completely unjustified,” says Rosfika.
Rent increases “fully exempt”
“The current system is not suitable for crisis inflation,” he analyses. What is needed first and foremost is a legal rent ceiling: “A maximum of two percent and only one increase per year”. With free rents, landlords are currently free to choose rents because they are “not price-driven”, explains the housing expert. Increases take place with the construction cost index. “Fully Exempt” – but that’s how it said in the lease. “People are at their mercy,” Rosifka summarizes.
“No Turbo Capitalism”
The rent ceiling should apply to all rents – in the spirit of the social market economy. They don’t want “turbo capitalism,” Rosifka criticizes the push for profit maximization in the real estate sector. Leases are becoming increasingly hostile to tenants, “as international investors increasingly enter the market.” People see a home “as an investment for profit” and no longer “as a means to meet a basic need”. The housing law expert admits: “That worries me greatly.”
Temporary leases: “Keeping people vulnerable to blackmail”
If politicians decide to abandon rent caps, the state would have to spend more money on subsidies and support. This leads to new problems: “We will not be short of that money for care, education and safety.” Another problem: fixed-term leases. “Time limits should be banned”, Rosifka takes a clear position. Exceptions can be made for individuals, “but it is difficult to see why banks, investors and insurance companies should be allowed to set a time limit.” This is just to “keep people open to blackmail”.
You can see the entire interview with Walter Rosifka in the video above. KroneLIVE can be seen from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m.
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I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
