National Council Resolutions – established rent ceilings and stricter prohibition laws

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The National Council will say goodbye to the Christmas holidays on Friday with a broad program. During lunch, the first two laws were adopted by a majority: the rent ceiling and the tightening of the prohibition law.

Next year there will be no increase in the rent category regulated in the Rent Act; in 2025 and 2026 the increase will be limited to five percent.

Previously, category rents were increased if the consumer price index increased by more than five percent compared to the last time the change was made. Due to the current inflation, this had resulted in several increases per year.

The target rents are valued annually
In the future, target rents will be increased annually; the next time on April 1, 2025. Here too, a ceiling of five percent should apply in 2025 and 2026. From 2027 onwards, the inflation of the previous year will no longer be used for the value adjustment, but the average inflation over the past three years. If this value exceeds five percent, tenants only pay half of the excess. Previously, benchmark rents were adjusted every two years based on the change in the annual average value of the consumer price index.

No restrictions on free rental prices
There is no restriction on the prices of free rental contracts. In the summer, the turquoise green coalition also proposed measures for this category. Originally, the government’s bill also contained constitutional provisions, which would have required a two-thirds majority in parliament. The government justified this with extra protection for tenants to make the cover ‘legally watertight’ and protect against ‘possible lawsuits’. After failure to agree on the necessary two-thirds majority with the SPÖ and FPÖ, the rent ceiling was now passed as a simple law.

Only FPÖ is against tightening the ban law
Against the votes of the FPÖ, it was decided on Friday to tighten the ban law. The change will result in higher fines in the future and will make the distribution of relevant messages from abroad a punishable offence. What was new compared to the original plans was that disparaging national emblems would also be punished more broadly.

The other points of the amendment were already known before the plenary debate. For example, there are significantly higher penalties for distributing or wearing National Socialist symbols or other symbols of Hamas, the Identitarians or the Gray Wolves that are banned in Austria. The fine will be increased from 4,000 to 10,000 euros. If the offense is repeated, a fine of up to 20,000 euros or a prison sentence of up to six weeks can be expected.

Moreover, any trivialization of the Holocaust and other National Socialist atrocities – and not just ‘gross’ atrocities – will be punishable in the future. The amendment to the Prohibition Act also makes it easier to punish crimes committed abroad and confiscate Nazi memorabilia. The latter could also be taken from their owners in the future, without any connection with a specific crime.

Source: Krone

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