The situation on the housing market in Salzburg is getting worse: more and more people are ending up on the streets. Social advisors such as Janko Gojkic of Caritas are trying to break the cycle.
A local man just came to the clinic: 50 years old, always hardworking, he was even a master of his profession. And suddenly he was in shock because he could no longer work due to an accident and shortly afterwards the landlord of his apartment declared his own use. “He came to us in emergency shelter for a while,” says Janko Gojkic, social advisor at Caritas.
Competition in the problematic housing market in Salzburg is fierce. Anyone who has to report AMS income has little chance of being selected as a tenant. An exclusion criterion is often receiving sick pay. Like a chronically ill Salzburg couple who desperately sought help from Caritas: “They wanted an apartment, but didn’t know that there were six other interested parties at the same time.”
Distress knows no age
It can affect anyone: “From 18-year-olds to people over 80,” says the social advisor, who says that the need knows no age limits. The number of social consultations increased by 17 percent in 2024. Older, mentally ill people are increasingly becoming problem children. Special facilities such as the Caritas Albertus Magnus House in Salzburg-Parsch are missing. There are 40 people on the waiting list. After State Councilor for Social Affairs Christian Pewny (FPÖ) canceled the Haus Bolaring project, there is no relief in sight.
Boarding room as the only way out
“For an apartment of 40 to 50 square meters on the open market in the city we get 900 euros,” says Gojkic. He often sifts through real estate listings for desperate clients. Finding new living space is becoming more and more of a challenge. The first resort for the homeless is a guesthouse room. Currently, about 100 affected people live in such private quarters in Salzburg. Here too, costs are rising, parallel to the terrible prices on the open real estate market. Caritas then helps with projects such as ‘My House’ in the Hübnergasse, where people live and are cared for for up to three years. Gojkic: “They are making important steps back to normality there.”
Source: Krone
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