2023-06-30 04:06:28
As of July 1st, the ordering principle for apartment rentals will come into effect. In the future, the broker’s commission will be paid to the person who first commissioned a broker to broker the apartment – this is usually the owner of the apartment. So far, the tenants have had to pay most of the commission – usually two months’ rent. A “pricing” of the commission, i.e. an increase in rents, is not to be feared in this way, according to Wifo economist Michael Klien.
The expert from the Austrian Institute for Economic Research referred to the experiences in Germany in the APA interview. The ordering principle was introduced there in 2015. “What you saw there is that there was no overall rollover.” However, it is conceivable that there might be selective increases in Austria, for example for high-priced apartments or for properties in sought-following locations where demand is high. “In one case or another it will be passed on, but on the whole there will be some relief for the tenants,” expects Klien.
He also does not believe that there will be large-scale bypass constructions, i.e. attempts to put the brokerage commission back on the tenants. “This fear has not come true in Germany.” If such attempts are made, various consumer protection organizations would step in and effectively prevent this, Klien estimates.
The tenants’ association, on the other hand, sees a greater risk of rent increases. An increase will be possible due to the lack of legal regulations in the “free housing market”, i.e. in unsubsidized new construction, and “unfortunately is also to be expected”, as the chairwoman of the Vienna tenants’ association, Elke Hanel-Torsch, explained to the APA. “However, a price increase might be intercepted by a tenancy law for everyone with real price limits and penalties for landlords who do not comply with them.”
In addition, circumventions are possible with the legal text that is now regarding to be implemented. For example, it is conceivable that brokers, when in contact with people looking for an apartment, refer to vacant properties, for example from a vacancy list, with which the potential tenant becomes the first client to be subject to commission, according to the tenants’ association. Possible agreements between brokers and landlords are also difficult to prove, Hanel-Torsch added. If there are circumventions, the tenant must prove that the broker is not entitled to a commission. “Such a proof will be extremely difficult in practice.”
The ordering principle is likely to have economic consequences, especially for the brokerage industry, which fears for its business basis as a result of the amendment. Criticism has therefore come from the Association of the Real Estate Industry (ÖVI) in the past. From Klien’s point of view, however, a distinction must be made, because the ordering principle only affects rental, not sale. “For the majority of brokers, the purchase transaction or the commission from the purchase and sale of real estate is the more important part.” It will therefore affect the companies in the industry differently. A general burden results from the rising real estate prices and the higher interest rates on loans. The brokers are therefore confronted with a sharply declining transaction volume.
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