Housing: How satisfied are Upper Austrians?

69 on a scale from zero to one hundred: This is the first value that the Ifes Institute collected on behalf of the AK. 1000 AK members in Upper Austria were surveyed in November – on five subject areas: apartment/house (size, equipment, etc.), affordability, housing environment, infrastructure/location and housing policy. The home satisfaction index is to be established based on the model of the working climate index and collected quarterly, said AK President Andreas Stangl at the presentation on Monday.

The value of 69 shows that the situation is good – “but with a lot of room for improvement”, said Ifes Managing Director Reinhard Raml. The scale is divided as follows: excellent (86 to 100 points), very good (76 to 85 points), good (66 to 75 points), critical (56 to 65 points), bad (0 to 55 points).

The results in the individual categories are as follows: 78 points in the apartment/house area, 63 points in affordability, 77 points in the living environment sub-index, 66 points in infrastructure/location and 50 points in housing policy. Key results according to Stangl are, for example: People who have a higher income are significantly more satisfied with their living situation. People who live in private primary rent are less satisfied with the housing policy. Fixed-term leases lead to uncertainty. The type of energy source used for heating has a significant impact on satisfaction with living. If the apartment or house is in a rural area, this has a positive effect on the assessment of the living environment, but at the same time there is less satisfaction with the infrastructural offers.

Stangl called for the heating cost subsidy to be adjusted and a heat price cap to be introduced, the Swedish one “Warm rental model” (rent including heating includes rent and heating costs, which may only be calculated on the basis of the highest thermal standards of the building envelope), the introduction of a vacancy tax, improvements in housing subsidies, the introduction of a housing bonus, the earmarking of housing subsidies and measures against rising property prices and speculation.