More and more properties on the Salzkammergut lakes are second homes and are empty most of the time. At the same time, real estate prices in the Salzkammergut have risen to such an extent that young local families can hardly find living space in their home country.
The ÖVP district parties in Gmunden and Vöcklabruck now want to do something about this. At a meeting in Steinbach am Attersee, 25 Turquoise mayors of the Attersee and Traunsee communities called for more opportunities for locals, for example in the creation of affordable housing.
At a first meeting with the members of the state parliament and ÖVP district chairmen Christian Mader (Vöcklabruck) and Rudolf Raffelsberger (Gmudnen), the local heads addressed a number of problems in the legislation that have led to the current situation. Mader and Raffelsberger announced that they would work with the state government to address the concerns of the lake region and necessary changes in the law.
“We want to develop forward-looking, sensitive suggestions for improvements in the areas of the reservation area, the registration law and the basic traffic law,” announces Nicole Eder, Mayor of Steinbach am Attersee. “Young families from lake communities can no longer afford to live or build in their homeland,” says Mayor Elisabeth Höllwarth-Kaiser from Oberhofen am Irrsee.
“Many apartments and houses in our region are second homes. The owners place high demands on the infrastructure, the properties are empty for most of the year,” says Höllwarth-Kaiser. On the other hand, the vacant lots are neither affordable nor available for ordinary people and are often sold to real estate developers who can pay inflated prices. Some municipalities have already carried out building land security projects in order to be able to offer their citizens affordable land, but this is also becoming increasingly difficult, says Seewalchen’s mayor Gerald Egger.
But the mayors also see another problem: If the young local families have to move away, village life will also die. Clubs are already struggling with youth problems, as are the volunteers. “We don’t have this problem yet, but it also applies to us: we live here 365 days a year and our community should also live on these days,” says Mayor Martin Pelzer from Altmünster.
Source: Nachrichten
