2024-04-08 16:23:09
Housing subsidies must be used for affordable housing – reform of the tenancy law – rent control – reduce loan interest rates
Vienna (OTS/SK) – At the second panel of the SPÖ club conference “Affordable Housing”, the SPÖ-NÖ chairman, State Councilor Sven Hergovich, the chairwoman of the Vienna Tenants Association Elke Hanel-Torsch and Michael Gehbauer, managing director of the housing association GPA, discussed. Hergovich explains that “ordinary people in this country can no longer afford to rent an apartment.” This also applies to loan interest rates, which are often “no longer manageable with normal income”. “I think it’s wrong to tell people like that that you have to move out and look for something new,” says Hergovich. ****
Hergovich takes Lower Austria as an example, where even subsidized housing is in the upper cost range – “and what’s more, there is a lot less building in Lower Austria.” This means that it makes a big difference “whether a government is led by social democrats – like in Vienna – or by black and blue.”
But it must also be seen that due to the enormous interest rates on loans, it is no longer affordable for more and more families to make repayments. On the other hand, the banks are making high profits, which have more than doubled. One must consider taxing the banks’ excess profits and thus support young families in building their own home. “This is also social democratic politics, because it’s regarding the realities of life and in many communities there are almost no rental apartments,” says Hergovich. Renovation also needs to be supported more with housing subsidies, as this would reduce land consumption and take ecological considerations into account.
According to Elke Hanel-Torsch, affordable housing means that following housing costs have been deducted, you still have enough money available to participate in social life. “We see every day in the tenants’ association that people can no longer do that,” says Hanel-Torsch. She criticizes the federal government, which has not introduced a rent cap – in contrast to other countries, where inflation has fallen rapidly as a result. Rents have “simply risen more than incomes”. Furthermore, there is also a need for a comprehensive reform of the tenancy law. The way forward must also be for non-profit organizations to offer affordable housing in rural areas. A sensible vacancy levy must also be reinvested in non-profit housing.
There must be enough affordable housing, says Gehbauer, who points out that every employee and every employer pays 0.5 percent of their dependent income for housing subsidies. “You just have to ensure that there is enough affordable living space – and for me that is subsidized housing,” says Gehbauer. However, due to the extension of housing subsidies, there are very different rent levels, in Vienna around 6 euros per square meter, with operating costs coming to 8.50 to 9 euros. “I am told from the federal states that it is between 13 and 16 euros – and we are far from affordable housing,” says Gehbauer. “We simply need more investment in residential construction”. We also need to focus on housing subsidies, but also on energy costs and operating costs. (final) up/pok
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