New measures

“The desire to own a home is currently unattainable!”

The city of Spittal urgently needs apartments, especially for young people. A building offensive is therefore underway.

(Bild: Christian Egger)

The federal government's new package of measures means around 1,500 new and, above all, affordable housing units for Carinthia. And although new apartments are being built, around 19,000 apartments remain empty in our province.

Around 100 million euros will come from the federal government's housing package for Carinthia. This will be used to create around 600 owner-occupied apartments, 600 rental apartments and renovate around 300 residential units. After all, having your own four walls is a basic need for Austrians, as Chancellor Karl Nehammer explained at a joint press conference with Deputy Governor Martin Gruber (ÖVP) at a building site in Klagenfurt.

This is why the temporary abolition of land registration and lien registration fees and the home improvement bonus, among other things, have already been implemented.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer presented the housing package together with Martin Gruber, Vice-Chancellor of the Province.

(Bild: Jennifer Kapellari)

"The desire to own your own house or apartment is currently more unattainable than ever before," said Gruber, who also praised the measures taken by the federal government. According to Gruber, the middle class must also be able to continue to afford property, as this "not only ties people to their home, but also boosts the construction industry and secures jobs in Carinthia!" In order for the federal subsidies to reach the Carinthians, however, the housing subsidies in Carinthia must be reformed or a special regulation must be created. "In reality, hardly anyone can take advantage of these subsidies," says Gruber, who is calling for higher income limits and a cap on prices per square meter. Otherwise, the housing package would fail to have the desired effect. Negotiations with the SPÖ are already underway. 

Knapp 19.000 Wohnungen

Bei Leerständen ist Kärnten auf Platz 1

Fewer and fewer Carinthians can afford to buy a property; for some, even renting is a real problem. In addition to the fact that too few new apartments are being built, many properties are simply standing empty.

According to calculations by Greenpeace, 5.7 percent of Carinthian apartments - around 18,600 - are unoccupied. A study by the Momentum Institute goes even further and lists all properties for which there is no indication of residence. That is 53,104 apartments and houses. Greenpeace examines the issue primarily from the perspective of land consumption. "There are thousands of empty apartments. At the same time, hectares of fertile land have to be used and enormous amounts of resources have to be used to create additional living space," criticizes soil protection spokesperson Melanie Ebner.

Of course, Carinthian politicians have also taken up the issue - Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg have already enshrined vacancy taxes in law, which are collected by the municipalities. A ray of hope for their empty coffers.

Steigende Nachfrage

Viele Junge suchen leistbares Zuhause

The recent arrival of new companies such as Fercam, IDM Wärmepumpen and the expansion of Lindner-Recyclingtech have led to a sharp rise in demand on the housing market in Spittal. However, housing is urgently needed not only for the employees of these companies, but also for young locals and students at the University of Applied Sciences. In order to create affordable homes for young people, several housing projects have been approved for the district town. "This involves more than 70 apartments, which will be built by Siedlerbund Innsbruck from June," says Mayor Gerhard Köfer. "In principle, it's about small, affordable housing."

Spittal is building and flourishing! Young people in particular are looking for housing here.

Gerhard Köfer, Bürgermeister

A complex with 30 new units is being built near the shopping center in Auenweg, and twelve are being built in Edlingerstraße. A housing project near the hospital is a reconstruction project that is already underway. Old buildings are being demolished and new ones built next door. "This does not include the project on the former Gösser site, where condominiums are being built for the most part," says Köfer. He has announced a further 200 apartments for the next ten years.