The planned partial rent freeze by the new federal government is a "housing cap" for the Association of Non-Profit Housing Associations (GBV). They see it as a "construction brake for affordable housing", with GBVs missing out on 150 million euros for the construction of 700 affordable apartments per year over the next three years, criticized the association in a statement on Thursday.

"The goal of the new rent cap cannot be to implement measures that cut back on the construction of affordable apartments as well as the renovation and decarbonization of the housing stock," said association chairman Klaus Baringer.

And he accuses the ÖVP/SPÖ/NEOS government of having pushed the changes through parliament without factual and political discussion. "The government program talks about a voluntary committee that is supposed to contribute to the implementation of the federal government's goals in the housing sector. In reality, the non-profit housing associations are being overridden," said Baringer.

Partial Rent Freeze Decided

In yesterday's first cabinet meeting of the new federal government, a rent freeze in certain areas was decided, among other things. It was emphasized that without the price freeze, which is to come in old buildings as well as in municipal and cooperative housing, rents would rise by an average of three percent from April. A total of 140 million euros in rental expenses would be saved.

For the FPÖ, the government is only freezing rents at a maximum level. The Greens see "first small welcome steps", but from their perspective, these are by far not enough. Support for the rent freeze comes from the Austrian Tenants' Association (MVÖ). They speak of a "relief for hundreds of thousands of households in Austria". The Chamber of Labor demands that privately financed apartments should also be included in the price freeze.

House and Landowners' Association Criticizes

Criticism comes from the Austrian House and Landowners' Association (ÖHGB), which fears a halt to renovation and new construction activities. For the Austrian Real Estate Association (ÖVI), the "freezing of the value safeguards of category and benchmark amounts is not comprehensible for factual reasons".

(APA/Red)

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