90-day upper limit

Vienna tightens rules for landlords on Airbnb

Airbnb is one of the most popular portals for vacation rentals.

(Bild: EPA)

From July, significantly stricter rules will apply in Vienna for short-term tourist rentals of apartments. In future, anyone who advertises on platforms such as Airbnb may only do so for a maximum of 90 days per year. Previously, there were only limits for areas that were designated as residential zones. Now properties outside these zones are also affected. Vienna wants to prevent living space from being permanently withdrawn from the market.

This is not the first time that Vienna has restricted the tourist rental of apartments. In 2018, areas that were designated as residential zones were banned. According to the building regulations, "commercial use for short-term accommodation purposes" is no longer permitted there - at least not on a regular basis. Those who occasionally offer such accommodation during vacations, for example, may continue to do so.

Longer rentals only with permission
Now comes the next step. Short-term rentals of apartments that exceed a total duration of 90 days per calendar year will generally only be permitted in exceptional cases. Temporary permits can be issued for this outside of residential zones. However, this requires the consent of all apartment owners, for example.

Anyone wishing to obtain permission to advertise for longer periods from July onwards must therefore submit an application. According to the office of Housing Councillor Kathrin Gaal (SPÖ), such applications have already been received. At the end of May, 313 applications had been submitted. The front-runner here is the 3rd district with 37 applications, followed by districts 10 and 15 with 35 and 33 applications respectively.

Specially created office to track violations
A comparison with the local tax collection is planned to monitor the measure. The tax must be paid when renting via online portals. However, a separate office will also be set up to track unauthorized short-term rentals. Details on this are to be presented soon.

According to the town hall, it is difficult to estimate how many apartments are affected. Owners of a property can, in principle, decide whether to rent it out themselves, it said. However, if you are the tenant of a property, you cannot simply sublet it. It is not known how many contracts allow this, emphasized a spokesperson. In any case, it is not permitted to advertise apartments from non-profit housing cooperatives or municipal apartments on the relevant platforms.