Ludwig makes community apartments more easily accessible - that's how it works!

Ludwig makes community apartments more easily accessible - that's how it works!

Wien, Österreich - Wiener Mayor Michael Ludwig presented new plans for social housing on Tuesday under the motto "Now it's about Vienna". The event marked a crucial step in the reform of the award practice for community apartments. From May 1, 2025, an adaptive procurement model will be introduced that facilitates access for future tenants.

One of the most striking changes is to abolish the criterion that interested parties must be registered at a fixed Viennese address for at least two years. In the future, it will be sufficient to have been registered with the main residence in Vienna for a total of two years. This should benefit in particular people who are entitled to residential or rental aids, since they are preferred to the award.

New Viennese living ticket

Ludwig also announced a Viennese living ticket to be introduced in 2026. This ticket system aims to simplify the allocation of community apartments and funded apartments. A new point regulation is also better to respond to individual life situations of the applicants.

Social housing has a long tradition in Vienna and is considered exemplary worldwide. The origin dates back to the time after the First World War, when 65,000 apartments were built between 1919 and 1934 as part of the "Red Vienna". To date, a total of 220,000 municipal apartments and an additional 200,000 subsidized apartments have been created for the population, with over 600,000 Viennese living in community buildings.

The city of Vienna acts as the client, which means that the apartments are affordable. Mayor Ludwig emphasizes the political continuity of this social housing policy, which has been worn by social democratic mayors since fascism. Over 60% of the Viennese population thus lives in affordable apartments, while in other major European cities, as in Germany, often increasing rents and privatizations lead to social tensions.

additional projects in focus

Vienna remains a model for social housing that preserves its principles even in times of change. Further details about the Wiener Wohnbau and the current developments can be found on the websites of Kosmo , Smarter together and ZDF .