Demands on politicians

Viennese construction professionals declare war on vacancies

Innovative ideas were presented for abandoned premises.

(Bild: Georg Scherer / wienschauen.at)

Vacant properties are to become an issue before the Viennese elections. This is what a new alliance against abandoned apartments, stores and commercial premises wants to achieve. The participants know what they are talking about: from civil engineers to architects, they are all construction professionals - and surprise with innovative proposals.

They know what they are talking about: The new alliance against vacancies in Vienna is made up of people in the field, from engineers to architects and urban planners. Together, they have presented demands to politicians that they want answers to before the Vienna elections in a year's time. Public discussions on three dates between the end of October and the end of November are intended to bring the issue to the fore.

Loud call for a vacancy survey
First of all, a vacancy survey is needed instead of previous estimates, the group emphasizes. What is possible in Styria, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg cannot be impossible in Vienna. Statistics Austria shows that ten percent of Viennese apartments are not registered. Salzburg and Tyrol, on the other hand, are struggling with a mandatory registration of vacancies. The next step would be a vacancy tax on apartments up to the usual rent in the respective area.

10,000 empty new-build flats
Vacancies cost taxpayers a lot, the construction professionals remind us: new construction is not only responsible for a quarter of CO2 emissions, but also requires expensive new infrastructure such as roads, pipelines and public transport lines - all things that vacant properties already have. The private real estate market, in particular, is not producing enough to meet demand: a study by the Austrian Chamber of Labor (AK) states that around 10,000 apartments built in Vienna between 2018 and 2021 alone are vacant.

Crackdown on "concrete gold", help for commercial space
While the group is calling for a crackdown on the hoarding of apartments as "concrete gold", it is primarily calling for support for abandoned commercial and business premises. Empty premises could be subsidized as affordable studios or student workplaces, according to the proposal. This would also be worthwhile financially, because lively streets would also promote the economy in the neighborhoods and make them safer and therefore more liveable.

However, the opponents of vacancies are convinced that even without money, enough can be achieved through courageous amendments to the law: zoning and commercial law often force enough premises into vacancy, for example by prohibiting mixed residential and commercial use. In addition, Vienna's building regulations are still "new building regulations", in which new building standards are required after conversions. In view of the problems, the law must finally become a "conversion regulation".