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Vienna is taking a stand against real estate speculation: tenants are on the offensive
Tenants in Vienna suffer from damaged junk houses. The city intervenes and threatens real estate speculators with receivership. Suspicion of fraud hovers over the owners.
Vienna is taking a stand against real estate speculation: tenants are on the offensive
An alarming picture emerges in Vienna: numerous residential buildings owned by large real estate companies are falling into disrepair. Windows are broken, roofs are open and mold is spreading throughout the apartments. While the tenants have to watch helplessly as the condition of their living spaces deteriorates, the owners are presumably intentionally doing nothing. This is the result of years of reporting by MOMENT.at about the so-called junk houses, and the city of Vienna has now decided to take action.
A few days ago it was announced that the city was seeking the involvement of the authorities in four particularly blatant cases in order to initiate compulsory administration. This means the city could take responsibility for repairing the affected buildings, while the costs are passed on to the owners. This measure would be a significant step, because until now it has mainly been tenants who have had to submit such applications, which has deterred many of them.
Vienna is taking action against speculative practices
The city has taken the initiative to take the pressure off tenants. Christian Bartok, the head of Vienna Tenant Assistance, described the current developments as “historic”. It is the first time that a municipality has applied for compulsory administration, although permission for this has long been available in the Tenancy Law. With this decision, up to twelve other buildings that are considered acutely speculative could also be under observation.
The allegations against the property owners are serious and range from infidelity and fraud to criminal association. The city of Vienna has announced that it will examine further legal steps and submit statements of the facts to the public prosecutor's office. Crimes such as usury, embezzlement and coercion are listed as part of the investigation.
The gloomy picture is reinforced by the fact that real estate companies often actively push tenants out of their apartments. They do this by neglecting necessary maintenance and simply stopping cleaning the properties. Tenants report glaring deficiencies, and many are faced with the difficult decision to terminate their rental agreements, often under pressure or in exchange for small severance payments.
A specific example that MOMENT.at documented concerns a dilapidated house in Vienna-Margareten, which illustrates such grievances. The health status of the residents living there is significantly endangered by the poor conditions. In the fall of 2023, an application for “economic demolition readiness” was approved in this case, underscoring the severity of the situation.
Die Stadtverwaltung kann mit der Zwangsverwaltung nicht nur Instandsetzungen initiieren, sondern auch Mieteinnahmen generieren, um die Renovierungen zu finanzieren. In this system, receivers could even conclude new rental agreements in order to stabilize the situation in the long term.
Vienna is sending a strong signal against speculative behavior in the real estate sector. Many tenants want nothing more than for the city to take action in other cases, and the latest developments promise at least a glimmer of hope for those who have long suffered from the conditions in junk houses. In general you can follow more about these topics, just read about it on MOMENT.at.