SPÖ-Zwander: Rising housing and energy costs threaten children and families

2023-11-19 12:33:46

SPNÖ campaign for affordable housing: When housing becomes a luxury, public intervention becomes mandatory.

St. Pölten (OTS) – “It is becoming less and less affordable for teenagers and young adults to move out of their home and start their own household,” says state managing director Wolfgang Zwander, referring to the massive increase in housing costs in all districts of Lower Austria: “Over 66 percent of men and 57 percent of women live in Austria Between 20 and 24 years old – according to Statistics Austria – still “as a child” in their parents’ home. This speaks volumes clearly, namely that this population group is far too often left alone by politicians.”

This tendency, according to Zwander, is not good for society: “Politics must give young people the chance to build their own lives. And Lower Austria should not be at the bottom here, but rather lead by example. That is what we are to the young people in guilty to our country.”

In a privately rented apartment, the monthly costs are ideally 710 euros in the Waidhofen/Thaya district (average apartment size according to Statistics Austria of 80.5 square meters including operating costs, note). In Mödling, the most expensive residential district, you have to pay 1,116 euros for such an apartment.

Compared to 2021, the burden on tenants’ wallets in this residential segment in Mödling has increased by 11.4 percent. On average, Lower Austrians had to accept an increase of around 4.2 percent from 2021 to 2022.

“Energy tariffs are also falling far more slowly than the current market price would suggest. But instead of solving this dilemma for customers, EVN is creating a new board position with a salary of almost 600,000 euros,” criticizes state managing director Zwander .

“While people can hardly afford the additional payments for the state energy supplier, the company is treating itself to a highly paid new board,” Zwander points out again about the SPÖ NÖ’s ongoing petition – with around 1,000 signatures already – on the topic.

Zwander further reports that the SPÖ NÖ has carried out an information campaign in all districts in the past few weeks. Through thousands of citizen contacts, 35,000 information postcards were distributed. Zwander concluded: “We will not rest until there are noticeable improvements in the costs of housing and energy in Lower Austria. The people of Lower Austria can rely on that.”