Debate about rent increases in August

2023-08-05 17:00:00

For some of the rental apartments, the next increases will be in August. The category rents will be increased by around 5.5 percent. And even in the case of rented apartments with free interest agreements, the high inflation can be felt through adjustment clauses. As reported, there are only around 2000 category tenants in Upper Austria. About 70,000 of the 230,000 apartments are subject to the open market.

SPÖ, Chamber of Labour, ÖGB and tenants’ association criticized the increases this week.

For category rents, it is the fourth increase in the past 15 months. Overall, they rose by around a quarter. Around 135,000 households across Austria are affected, including 125,000 in Vienna.

Elke Hanel-Torsch, Chairwoman of the Vienna Tenants’ Association, said: “If you add up the four increases since April 2022, a 70 square meter household has to cope with an additional burden of more than 800 euros per year.”

In the case of free rental agreements, the increase in the consumer price index will result in the fourth to sixth increase in two years, depending on the contract. “This means that free rents will increase by around 23 percent within two years. Around 425,000 rented households across Austria will be affected – they will be burdened with an average of more than 1,300 euros per year,” according to the Chamber of Labor.

The employee representatives and the tenants’ association reiterated their demand for a rent cap for all index-linked rents: rents should not be increased more than once a year, and the increase should be limited to two percent. The tenants’ association complained that rents were rising much faster than wages and salaries.

The trade union confederation argued: “A rent brake is possible – many countries in Europe have already introduced rent brakes and thus successfully combated inflation. In Spain and Portugal rent increases were capped at two percent a year. In France there is a 3.5 percent cap for Rents in force. In Denmark, rent increases have been capped at four percent until 2024.”

Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) recently referred to the housing subsidy, which was “smarter and more accurate” than a rental price brake.

The Association of House and Landowners (ÖHGB) spoke of “blatant populism about rent valorisation”. It is about the economic basis of the rental calculation for owners, there is no way around an adjustment.