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"Paradise for tenants": New York Times raves about extraordinary settlement in Austria

2023-05-29T21:11:36.399Z

Highlights: In its new magazine, the "New York Times" raves about Austrian rental concepts. "Imagine a tenant's paradise. It might look like Vienna," the article reads. But is Vienna's housing market really the ultimate? Many residents see it differently. And: What else can Germany possibly learn from its neighboring country? The New York Times has used the municipal buildings in Alterlaa as a model for rents in America. The basic idea: social mixing, low-income earners should not be excluded.



In its new magazine, the "New York Times" raves about Austrian rental concepts. Some of the residents there see it differently. What exactly is behind it?

New York/Vienna – The star of the new New York Times Magazine? These are huge high-rise buildings with yellow balconies and a swimming pool on the roof – in the middle of Vienna. "Imagine a tenant's paradise. It might look like Vienna," the article reads. An ode to the housing market of the capital of Austria.

But is Vienna's housing market really the ultimate? Many residents see it differently. And: What else can Germany possibly learn from its neighboring country?

"Paradise for tenants": New York Times raves about extraordinary settlement in Austria

The housing market in the U.S. is turbulent. Real estate speculation in America is currently driving up prices. The New York Times looked towards Europe – to be precise, towards Vienna. She raves about the municipal buildings Alterlaa and Karl-Marx-Hof, the low rents and the cohesion of the residents.

Unlike in New York, where people sometimes spend almost 40 percent of their income on rent, the residents of Vienna pay only about four to eight percent in municipal buildings. Rents are capped and should not be raised above inflation levels. Moreover, while in the USA only the poorest are entitled to social housing, in Vienna as many as 80 percent of the population qualified for it.

The basic idea: social mixing, low-income earners should not be excluded. "Probably no other developed city has done more to protect residents from the commercialization of housing," the New York Times praises the capital.

"Paradise for tenants": Vienna's residents doubt the ideal housing market – "That's not true"

How much is behind it? "That's not true," a Viennese user promptly commented on Instagram. Pensions are high and the conditions for social housing are difficult to fulfill. Thereis also criticism from the Agenda Austria research institute, Austrian magazines such as Der Standard and a 2019 study by the Empirica Institute.

Among other things, the New York Times has used the municipal buildings in Alterlaa as a model for rents in America. © Wolfgang Simlinger/Imago

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What cannot be denied, according to the portals, is that the Viennese housing market is a blessing, especially for people with low incomes. On the open market, however, rents have also exploded and fixed-term leases are the rule. Young people and newcomers to Vienna have a hard time getting a place in social housing projects, and the waiting lists are long.

And there are also doubts that the social mix works completely, as in the model. It is unlikely that the doctor will actually meet in the courtyard in the evening with, for example, the craftsman. Vienna's housing market: It looks good, especially compared to "the catastrophic housing situation in other cities," according to the magazines. The basic concepts of the Viennese rental market.

Low rents: Can the USA or Germany still learn something from Vienna?

Whether Germany or the USA should take Vienna as a model when it comes to rents is controversial. However, some aspects should make sense as role models. Verena Bentele, the president of the social association VdK Deutschlands, wrote in 2018 in theFrankfurter Rundschau: Vienna has never privatized its municipal housing stock and is continuously building new apartments.

You can see the Alterlaa residential park in Vienna. © imago

This contributes to the fact that there is more affordable housing in Vienna. Instead of subsidizing expensive rents, Germany could also finance affordable housing, writes Der Spiegel. And also involving the middle class in social housing works at least to the extent that there are no continuous problem districts anywhere. In Munich, a new tenant law was recently discussed. (chd)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-05-29

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