Rent stop in Austria: New laws bring relieving savings!

Rent stop in Austria: New laws bring relieving savings!

The housing costs in Austria are constantly increasing, and now there is a new measure for tenant relief! The National Council unanimously decided today to freeze rents in regulated old building, community apartments and cooperative apartments until April 2026. This was necessary to counteract an increase in category and guideline rents by three to four percent, as State Secretary Michaela Schmidt said. The decision with which the inflation adjustment is suspended is expected to save 140 million euros for 1.5 million Austrians: Interior, Schmidt continues, as ots.at reported.

But that's not all: From 2025, tenants must count on annual rent increases on average, which are legally capped to 5 percent. From 2027, it becomes critical when this limit is loosened and inflation is expected over 5 percent, which means that many tenants: inside the free rental contracts will be particularly affected. According to an analysis, the rental price corridor for tenants reduces the rent in cooperative buildings by an average of EUR 37.40 per month. In contrast, new construction tenants remain completely unprotected, as the Momentum Institute states in its analysis. This unequal distribution of relief causes discussions and was criticized by many as inadequate, among others by the FPÖ and the Greens, in the applications of which were not found enough support for tightening these regulations, such as Momentum-institut. In the course of these developments, the MPs of the SPÖ emphasize that their common law on rent brake, supported by the ÖVP and NEOS, is contributed to finally containing the risen rental prices. It is made clear that the draft law aims at more legal certainty for tenants: inside and landlord: to create inside, which is more necessary than ever in times of increasing inflation. Nevertheless, there are further demands for a complete rental price stop and a limitation of the inflation adjustments, which have not been taken up by the current coalition.