Dunded on the construction – too little rental price brake: This is how living crisis has been resolved

Rental prices have risen greatly in Austria in recent years. According to calculations of the Union Institute close to the Union, three times as strong as in the entire eurozone. From 2010 to 2024, the increase was more than 70 percent. Only in Estonia (208.2 percent), Lithuania (177.3 percent) and Ireland (108.1 percent) climbed more than in Austria.

Regulated rental prices are being frozen this year
In the opposition of the government, the Spö has always accused that it would have further fueled inflation by not intervening in the rental prices. In the government with the ÖVP and Neos, the Reds have now maintained that the rental prices will not be increased by 2025 and that the rental adjustment 2026 can be a maximum of one percent or 2027 a maximum of two percent.

However, not all rental apartments fall under the braking price brake, but only those in community buildings, non-profit residential buildings and private old building apartments with guideline or category areas. That is approximately 1.3 of the 1.7 million rental budgets. Around a quarter, this measure therefore does not benefit.

Price brake in high inflation also on the free market
But at the same time a new value should also be made. The opportunity is an OGH judgment that countless index clauses are illegal. A new adjustment of the legal value must give tenants and landlords legal certainty, here too a “brake” is installed: because with more than three percent increase, only half must be made for the tenant, the rest should bear the landlord. With five percent inflation it would be four percent. But the fact is that this brake will have no effect in most years, because inflation will still be less than three percent. It is intended for phases of extremely high inflation, so that inflation does not “heat up” itself.

From the latest data from Statistics Austria, show that the strong rental price has recently been baked. On average, the rents, including operating costs, were 9.9 euros per square meter per month in the 4th quarter of 2024 and therefore rose by 4.2 percent compared to the 4th quarter of the previous year. Compared to the previous quarter, they even remained unchanged. The average rent without operating costs increased by 5.6 percent to EUR 7.5 per square meter in the previous year.

The costs are recently rising delayed
“At the end of 2024, the climbs of the rental prices in Austria continued to slow down. We had the highest growth since the start of the time series in 2012 with an increase of 8.1 percent compared to the previous year. Statistics Austria analyzes Tobias Thomas. The average rent including operating costs per apartment per apartment last year.

The Economic Liberal Thinking Factory Agenda Austria assumes the regulation of rents that wages and the consumer price index increase considerably more than the guidelines. This leads to real income losses by the landlords and makes renting living space in the regulated area increasingly unattractive. The introduction of the tightened price lid would mean a loss of approximately 1100 euros for a landlord of an apartment of 60 square meters in the ninth district of Vienna, which falls under the rental guideline.

The government promotes those who are better placed
If one also takes into account the changes compared to the previous year, the loss increases to 3500 euros due to the high inflation of recent years, the Austria agenda calculates. With the freezing of rental prices, the government mainly promotes those who are better placed in the “protected area”. The Landlorderskant also criticizes the increase in the minimum limitation, which would make the rent even more unattractive, Austria already has a very tenant -friendly law. According to many experts, many experts are not very realistic. After all, private individuals must have the chance to earn back their capital with rental income.

To stimulate the residential construction, the government must also start with bureaucracy, such as with so many topics. Building forms, countless regulations and double track financing make building difficult. The government strives to change that. But it is not easy to implement: because building and life is a real cross -sectional issue, some are also at land level.

Rental Act must be cleaned up
In addition to lower costs, legal certainty is also crucial. Because changing provisions and bumpy clauses also scare investors. Recently there was a quarter for the first time in a long time, in which no real estate transaction with a foreign investor took place.

The rental legislation is also extremely complex. For decades, the social partners and party representatives have repeatedly “actionist”. Tenants’ Association and Chamber of Commerce are so far apart that cleaning up and reorganizing the rent legislation has always failed.

Another point of criticism of the coming price brake is that many landlords can miss the money for the renovation and low -carbon of their houses. Here the government also thought of a measure. In the future, the ‘energetic quality’ of the building should also play a role in the formation of rental formation. If the house is very efficient, the rent can be higher, because the tenant also saves energy costs on the other hand.

Chamber of Labor against Life as a “speculation object”
The Chamber of Labor, in turn, warns against the consequences of the privatization of non -profit investigators and its apartments. What was once cheaper, social living space, turn into a lucrative speculation object. The rental prices are rising, temporary rental relationships are starting. The reason for this is that landlords often relate to the legal rules for cheap living space. AK expert Walter Rosifka warns: “If the charity status has disappeared, it is only about maximizing the return.” To give the tenants more safety, the AK requires more transparency in the form of a “picker” in the land register for non -profit apartments. This must indicate that the lease is still applicable if the sale is sold. In addition, penalties are needed for rental users.