Therefore, in a paper presented to the APA, he suggests reserving half of the new building land for social housing. He even wants to secure this through a constitutional provision. Babler believes that increased construction activity by non-profit organizations would also stimulate the stumbling construction industry.
Rising housing costs are one of the main causes of record inflation in Austria, emphasizes the SPÖ chairman. The fact that rents have not risen much higher is also due to the price-dampening effect of social housing. Last December 2023, the average rent per square meter in the private sector was 40 percent higher than that in the non-profit sector.
More intervention in the market
But non-profit property developers are coming under increasing pressure, rising property prices are making social housing construction massively more difficult and favoring speculative investment properties from private investors, criticizes Babler. Therefore, increased intervention in the market is needed.
In metropolitan areas, at least 50 percent of newly dedicated building land should be reserved for non-profit housing, demands the SPÖ leader. Initial positive experiences in the spatial and building regulations of the federal states showed the enormous potential of these measures.
In addition, Babler wants to discuss measures against the hoarding of building land for speculative purposes. One approach for him would be to modernize the land procurement law. If there is a shortage of affordable housing, building land hoarded for speculative purposes should move from “private speculators” to municipalities and non-profit organizations. The SPÖ’s “Council of Experts” has already been tasked with drawing up reform proposals.
