Funding for vacancies reduced: Greens demand withdrawal

Renovating and using empty buildings instead of building up more space was one of the declared goals of the “Action Program for Local and Economic Revitalization of the State of Upper Austria”, which State Economics Councilor Markus Achleitner (VP) presented in May 2023. On Thursday, at the presentation of a strategy paper to reduce land consumption, which the regional planning officers of the federal states had agreed on in Linz, Achleitner once again emphasized the importance of the sustainable use of vacant properties.

A funding program was set up to help the communities renovate the buildings. The state would like to make 32 million euros available for this by 2027.

However, the rush for these grants was significantly greater than expected. 192 of 438 Upper Austrian municipalities submitted an application in the first year. Because there was not enough budget for this, the funding guidelines were quickly changed. A maximum of two projects can now be funded per municipality. At the same time, the amount of the funding rate was originally reduced from up to 65 percent of the project costs to 25 percent.

“You can’t cut what you should force and make easier. That’s absurd,” says Dagmar Engl, community spokeswoman for the Green Party in Upper Austria. In an initiative motion, the Greens are now calling on the state government to immediately reverse the cuts and provide the necessary financial resources. Above all, the fact that the cuts have applied retroactively since January 1, 2024, has put many communities in a difficult situation, says Engl: “Some of them were just ready with their projects to be able to submit them, and now in many cases it is uncertain whether the project can still be carried out.”

State Councilor Achleitner, on the other hand, cannot understand the criticism: The new funding guidelines were unanimously approved by the state government. With the aim of “enabling as many cities and communities as possible to participate”.

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