9100 apartments

The wave of refurbishment in municipal housing is now rolling in

The municipal building in Gutheil-Schoder-Gasse in Liesing was a sensation in social housing: the smallest apartments were 55 square meters in size - huge by the standards of the time. 65 years later, refurbishment is now underway.(Bild: Wiener Wohnen)

The municipal housing offensive is now becoming visible in the city, and not just in new buildings: The quality of life in 9,100 apartments is soon to improve significantly and then be renovated at a much faster pace than now

Good things take time: in 2021, the city hall coalition decided on the municipal housing offensive as one of its first priorities. Now it is becoming visible bit by bit: after project development, planning and approval procedures, the first new municipal buildings in the program are taking shape, for example on the Sophienspital site near Westbahnhof, in Schönbrunnerstraße or in Simmeringer Hoefftgasse. On the whole, however, the focus is much more on refurbishments than new builds.

A record number of council apartments are currently being refurbished and the general refurbishment cycle is being successively reduced.

Vizebürgermeisterin und Wohnbaustadträtin Kathrin Gaál (SPÖ)

Bild: Zwefo

Of the approximately 1.2 billion euros of the "Gemeindebau(t)" program, 614 million euros are allocated to a total of 1950 newly built council apartments, while 591 million euros are being used to renovate 9100 existing apartments. This means that around one in every 25 council apartments in Vienna is due for refurbishment.

Offensive only completed in "a few years"
The refurbishment of the complex in Gutheil-Schoder-Gasse in Liesing and the Hedwig-Lehnert-Hof in Floridsdorf will begin in June. In November, construction will continue on Saligergasse in the northern part of the Per-Albin-Hansson estate. Around 800 apartments will be brought up to modern standards, primarily through thermal refurbishment, elevator installations and individual measures such as equipping apartments with burglar-resistant fire doors. Where possible, additional living space is also being gained through loft conversions.

The completion of the "Gemeindebau(t)" program is some way off. In line with the timing of the Vienna elections, it will expire at the end of 2025, but this affects the budgeting and commissioning of the projects. According to Wiener Wohnen, full implementation will then "take several years", but the refurbishment ambitions of Wiener Wohnen do not end with the current program. The plan is to reduce the refurbishment cycle to 40 years by 2030, meaning that from then on, no municipal building will have to wait longer than 40 years for refurbishment.

The projects will be ranked according to the condition of the buildings rather than the year of construction. The extent to which the refurbishment is beneficial, for example in terms of sustainability, also plays a role. However, necessary maintenance work is always carried out when required, it is emphasized.