In an area, like most European capitals, where available housing is becoming scarce, tenants need something much more substantial than a yearly rent subsidy. European cities need a new, visionary policy to increase available housing. And we don’t have to invent this vision. If, of course, there is a real will for its long-term implementation.
Vienna – the capital of Austria, for example, can be a model for other European capitals. The Austrian capital is considered a model for a functioning rental market throughout Europe. Rents are particularly affordable and the market remains attractive to investors, although it is strictly regulated, because it is considered stable. About half of Vienna’s population of one million residents lives in about 400,000 municipal and cooperative apartments. Around 5,000 to 7,000 apartments are built annually by these two non-profit organizations.
The Vienna city government also has the option to “reserve and exclude certain areas of the city for subsidized housing.” If construction takes place in these locations, two-thirds must fall within the guidelines for subsidized housing. The legal upper limit for net rent for new social housing is below 5 euros per square meter.
Social housing in Vienna is not just for low-income households in cheap, working-class housing. The income thresholds are set so that around 80% of all households in Vienna have access to social housing.
Some will argue, of course, that if social housing is addressed to large sections of the population, this will hinder private initiative and economic growth, which is also due to the real estate sector. However, the disposable income of households living in non-profit or municipal housing is increasing and is usually spent on the market.
But all this requires politicians with vision.
