The review period for the constitutional law on public housing ends on Wednesday. However, the ÖVP and the Greens need a two-thirds majority for the planned change. The SPÖ signaled its approval, but they wanted to wait until the end of the review period. The FPÖ, on the other hand, has already waved it off.
The SPÖ spoke out in principle in favor of a vacancy tax and generally assessed the federal government’s plan positively, as the Ö1-Mittagsjournal reported, citing the SP parliamentary club. Meanwhile, FPÖ building spokesman Philipp Schrangl feared on ORF radio that the law would become a “toothless bureaucratic monster”. In addition, many apartments are either in rural areas or in poor condition.
More competencies for countries
According to the Ö1-Mittagsjournal, the ÖGB noted that the states should have more powers. ÖGB economist Angela Pfister also spoke out in favor of a levy on unused building land. According to the economist, this could lead to a change in the use of grassland again.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Labor welcomed the “objective” of the draft in its statement. “Apartments should be used for permanent living and not misused,” it said. However, the “avoidance of non-use or underuse” would also have to refer to business premises or properties that can be developed. By Tuesday afternoon, 19 statements had been submitted as part of the assessment, according to the parliamentary website.
230,000 apartments are empty
The environmental organization Greenpeace also called for this tax in a press release. There are 230,000 empty apartments in Austria. On average, the vacancy rate is 4.7 percent. Carinthia (5.7 percent), Tyrol (5.6 percent) and Salzburg (5.2 percent) have the highest rates; at the other end are Vienna with 3.4 and Vorarlberg with 3.9 percent. And 11.5 percent of all apartments in Austria are registered as secondary residences, according to the environmental organization. The highest rates of secondary residence are therefore in Burgenland as well as in Lower Austria and Salzburg.
Reduce surface erosion
At the same time, around 60,000 new apartments are being built every year, Greenpeace added. The vacancy levy could limit further soil sealing. An example of this is France, where the vacancy rate has been reduced by 13 percent since the levy was introduced in 1999.
The planned change in the law gives the federal states the opportunity to determine the amount of the levy themselves. However, the states want public housing to be entirely the responsibility of the states.
