Real estate speculators enrich themselves while tenants have to live in catastrophic conditions. This is not an isolated case in Vienna. The Greens are calling for an anti-speculation package, the city sees the federal government as a duty.
Vienna has a problem with speculative housing, says the leader of the Viennese Green Party, Judith Pühringer. Especially in recent months, there have been cases where tenants not only have to live in catastrophic conditions, but are also exploited and forced to leave.
The goal of neglect is to get to the point where the property is economically ready for demolition, followed by demolition, new construction, and rental or sale at terrible prices.
Use intimidation to force people to move
An example of this is in the Rüdigergasse in the 5th district, the apartment building is almost empty. The remaining tenants would have to be bullied into moving out. One person had to tear down his lovingly built bathroom because there was an elevator there – which never came. The tenant now lives without a bathroom, hot water or heating.
Plastic tarpaulin instead of a roof
At Spengergasse 1, also in the 5th district, the roof was removed four years ago and has since been replaced by blue plastic sheets. Leaking gas pipes and mold plague the tenants of Rienößlgasse 24 in Wieden. The Greens brought all these matters to the attention of the building police, but a quick handling was not possible due to a lack of staff.
Higher sentences demanded
“It is strange that such conditions exist in a city that stands for social housing,” says housing spokesman Georg Prack. In their package of measures, the Greens call for an increase in the workforce, mandatory administration by the city for owners who make life hell for tenants, a program for the purchase of apartment buildings, higher penalties for demolition without permission and a financial increase in old rents. Fund for city preservation.
Federal failures
According to housing councillor Kathrin Gaál (SPÖ), the problem of the owner’s failure to meet his obligations is based on national tenancy law. The city is doing everything it can to compensate for the failure of the green-black federal government in the area of tenancy law. Moreover, it concerns private rental contracts. Gaál: “With tenant assistance, we also have an institution that provides information and represents the interests of tenants in court.”
Source: Krone
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