In July, many tenants are threatened with price increases again

It would be the fourth increase in 15 months and would affect around 135,000 households unless the government takes countermeasures. AK, ÖGB and tenants’ association are alarmed, they are again calling for the introduction of a rental price brake. “Four increases in 15 months totaling almost 24 percent – that’s no longer feasible for many,” said Walter Rosifka, housing rights expert at the Chamber of Labor (AK) in a broadcast on Monday. “For a 70 square meter apartment, that means an increase of a total of 790 euros per year within 15 months. That drives up inflation for everyone,” agrees Helene Schuberth, chief economist at the Austrian Trade Union Confederation (ÖGB). For every third tenant, the housing costs are now a “heavy financial burden”, while the real estate industry is making high profits.

All households that live in buildings to which the Tenancy Act applies – for example in private old buildings built before 1945 – and whose lease was concluded before March 1, 1994 are affected by the threatened increase. That’s around 135,000. The category rents are raised when inflation exceeds the five percent mark. The index number from March 2023 was decisive for the increase in July, when inflation was 9.2 percent according to Statistics Austria.

Indirectly, however, the mechanism does not only affect category tenants, since an increase in category rents affects the operating costs for almost all tenants. Because the administration fees, which are offset against the tenant with the operating costs, are capped at the amount in category A according to the AK and the tenants’ association.

All three institutions agree that the government must therefore put the brakes on it. Such a rental price brake must come for all rents linked to inflation – not just for category rents. “Without political intervention, the rent-price spiral will continue to turn,” says Schuberth. “The government must now either act or clear the way for a policy that takes tenant protection seriously,” says Elke Hanel-Torsch, chairwoman of the tenants’ association in Vienna.

The ÖGB also demands an end to the time limits, since contract extensions are usually associated with rent increases. In addition, the union wants more funds for the construction of new apartments and a vacancy tax for private apartments that have been empty for a long time.