TIROLER DAILY NEWSPAPER "Analysis" from Thursday, March 23, 2023 by Karin Leitner "Greens slowed down again by the ÖVP"

Innsbruck (OTS) – It has been known for a long time that and when the next massive rise in prices will occur. The benchmark rents will rise by 8.6 percent – from April for people with new contracts, from May for those with current contracts. Politicians were right to call for relief. For far too many people, further burdens are no longer financially manageable. The governing parties began to negotiate. The Greens wanted a “rent brake”; the ÖVP Seniors’ Association also pushed for such a move. The Chancellor’s Party was against it. From her came requests in the sense of landlords and owners. After haggling, this result: As recently introduced by the ÖVP, the housing and heating cost aid will be increased by 225 million euros. This subsidy is “socially fairer” and “more targeted”, according to ÖVP club boss August Wöginger. And it wasn’t just benchmark tenants who benefited. That’s correct. But it is also a fact that the “one-off payment” that has to be applied for comes from the budget, and therefore from all taxpayers. And it’s not sustainable. A “brake” would also have worked against inflation. Even Wifo boss Gabriel Felbermayr refers to this. Regrettably, he calls what is presented: “I would think it would now be understood that although new cash transfers can cushion social hardship, they do not dampen inflation, but actually fuel it.” Criticism also comes from the eco-party. Mandatary Nina Tomaselli and the Viennese Greens complain about Turkish clientelism to the detriment of those affected. Yes, then why would they agree to such a “compromise”? Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch says what is always heard from his ranks in such cases: If the Greens had not gone along, nothing would have happened. Should apply: If you find something bad, you cannot approve of it. What are Werner Kogler & Co. afraid of? That the ÖVP terminates the alliance – on the grounds that anyone who puts tenant protection before apartment building owner protection is no longer able to do it?