"Contrary to competence"

Complaints against new rules for short-term rentals

Apartments in Vienna may only be offered for a maximum of 90 days.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, krone.at-Grafik)

Since Monday, significantly stricter rules have been in force in Vienna for short-term rentals of apartments. Anyone who advertises on platforms such as Airbnb may only do so for a maximum of 90 days per year. The Vienna Apartment Renters Initiative has now filed two constitutional complaints against this.

The province of Vienna has acted "contrary to its powers", argues the initiative, which includes 50 Viennese citizens. According to their lawyer Martin Trapichler, the first lawsuit is directed against the restriction within residential zones, the second against the regulations outside these zones. Previously, limits only applied to residential zones, but now they also apply to properties outside them. The City of Vienna wants to prevent living space from being permanently withdrawn from the market.

Longer lettings are only possible with a special permit. This approval requires the signature of all (co-)owners, "even if they have already given their consent to short-term letting for accommodation purposes in the condominium agreement", criticized the lawyer. "This makes the process considerably more difficult."

Economic factor
The apartment landlords also argue with the size of their apartment: they would offer their mostly small apartments cheaply and merely earn some extra money. Furthermore, short-term rentals are also an economic factor: in 2022, vacation apartments would have generated economic value added of around one billion euros for small local businesses.