Early 19th century Prior to the
Bourgeois Revolutions of 1848, rental housing in Vienna was often tied to one's employment, meaning the loss of a job could result in the loss of one's dwelling. Through this period, housing construction was largely done at the discretion of the wealthy landowners that dominated Vienna. As landowners were expected to finance any new connecting roads and sewers, new housing was often built directly next to already developed areas owned by the given landlord. Housing on the land would then be sold as a
leasehold, with owners of housing property being able to live in the dwelling or rent out the property, with the only obligation to the land holder through tax. In 1819, the was established, allowing for people to take out a
mortgage instead of seeking loans from private investors.
Industrialisation and growth The
Bourgeois Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire had multiple direct effects on housing in Vienna. People were no longer heavily restricted from relocating across the empire and, as a result, Vienna saw an influx of
Czech people and
Galician Jewish people relocate into the city. Additionally, work contracts and tenants' rental situation became increasingly separated, with landlords and employers no longer being the same person. Another result of the revolution was the creation of the elected
Municipal Council of Vienna as the governing body of the city. Landowners lost control of urban planning, their obligation to provide infrastructure, and their right to levy taxes. Responsibility for urban planning and infrastructure fell instead to the city council. The city council was first controlled by the Liberal Party, with the council disproportionately dominated by landlords. Although partially weakened, the strong positions of landlords in Vienna meant that tenants continued to have few protections, and tenants' concerns remained largely disregarded. as part of the
Vienna Ring Road Vienna's growth mirrored the trajectory of many other European cities;
industrialisation resulted in an increased population as
peasant workers moved into the city. As Vienna's population increased, wages and employment decreased. Low wages and the city's housing shortage within the city resulted in the Viennese
working class suffering increased
housing insecurity. During a shortage of capital due to government bonds and the construction of
Vienna's railways, most remaining funds were spent instead on the construction of the
Vienna Ring Road and the new housing lining the street. The housing of the Vienna Ring Road was designed as upper-middle-class dwellings, making it inaccessible to the working class and failing to address the housing shortage. The inner ring of suburbs surrounding Vienna were incorporated into the city in 1850. These
suburbs became Districts 2–9 and 20 and comprise the
Vorstädte of the city. The outer suburbs of the city—also known as the
Vororte—were incorporated into the city in 1890. These suburbs became Districts 11–19. In districts 2–10, buildings up to five-stories tall were permitted. In the outer districts, buildings up to four-stories were permitted within densely populated areas, while less populated sections permitted up to three-stories. Within the
Inner City of Vienna, buildings up to six-stories talls were permitted. Between 1870 and 1890, the outer districts of Vienna became urbanised, The economic boom between 1867 and 1873 speeding up urban development until a crash in 1973. In 1895, the Liberal party lost control of Vienna to the newer
Christian Social Party (CSP), which maintained the disproportionate position of landlords over the city council. As of 1900, 25% of a working-class family's income was spent on rent, with lower-middle-class families spending around 23%, and upper-middle-class families spending between 16% to 20% on rent. That same year, nearly one-fifth of people in Vienna lived in overcrowded dwellings. By 1910, at least 32% of people housed in Vienna were living in overcrowded dwellings, with approximately 20% of dwellings in Vienna being severely overcrowded. As of 31 December, there were 93,000 sub-tenants and 75,400 lodgers in Vienna, exacerbating issues of
overcrowding. In 1911, in response to a rent hike of approximately 20% as food prices were increasing dramatically, a
rent strike was organised. Neither the rent strike nor the
tenants association succeeded in forcing landlords to yield. In 1912, an estimated 550,000 people in Vienna had been in homeless temporary accommodation.
First World War housing crisis The
First World War exacerbated a long-standing housing shortage in
Austro-Hungarian Empire as construction rates drastically slowed, causing a near-zero vacancy rate by 1918. In 1917, only a net of 314 housing units were constructed in the city, compared to 8,454 in 1911. Additionally the number of housing units in Vienna were decreased due to conversion of dwellings into office space for business and war effort use. At the beginning of 1918, only 245 of Vienna's dwellings were vacant, decreasing to 105 by September 1919, most of them deemed unsuitable for habitation. Prior to the war, there existed almost no protections for tenants, putting renters in a precarious position. In January 1917, legal tenant protections in the form of
rent regulations and restrictions on evictions were enacted as wartime measures, intended to prevent the growth of revolutionary sentiment. Two following decrees expanded rent regulations, mandated registry of vacant dwellings, and prohibited conversion of dwellings for non-residential uses. These restrictions represented the first instance of tenant protections in Austria. Whilst these measures helped those who already held tenancy, this aggravated the crisis for those without. With the end of the First World War, the housing crisis worsened further. Returning
soldiers and
refugees from the
dissolution of the Empire resulted in Vienna swelling further.
Famine was a significant problem for many people in Austria and the
Siedler ("settler")
squatting movement developed as these people tried to create shelter and a source of food for themselves. Squatting became common within the
green belt around Vienna. Mass demonstrations took place by those struggling
housing insecurity, and veterans' groups were prominent in public meetings.
Red Vienna period Prior to the founding of the
First Republic of Austria, the
Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAPÖ) had largely set aside the problem of the housing crisis, on the understanding that it that could only be solved long-term under
socialism. Despite this,
housing insecurity particularly affected the SDAPÖ's members and voter base, who were overwhelmingly working class renters. This groundswell obligated the SDAPÖ to adopt a proactive housing policy, in addition to already held policy positions such as
rent control and property requisition. The
Austromarxist tendency of the SDAPÖ came to understand tackling the housing crisis under
capitalism as building toward a socialist society. In 1919, the Viennese City Council was elected by
universal suffrage for the first time, and resulted in the SPADÖ coming to power in the city for the first time. The SDAPÖ would be in power in Vienna uninterrupted for 15 years. That year, the city began a number of emergency measures to address the worst of the housing crisis. One such measure was the renovation of soldier barracks and arms storage space, and other military buildings for residential use. The temporary war-time measures regarding rent control and restrictions on evictions were maintained throughout the post war. Permanent controls and regulations were enacted, by the Rent Restriction Act of 7 December 1922. Whilst rent controls were largely opposed by the
Christian Social Party (CSP), some within the CSP were supportive, believing it aided Austrian businesses competing abroad by keeping nominal wages down, or by staving off revolutionary sentiment. The SPADÖ and supporters from the CSP prevented the removal of such tenant protections at the federal level. In addition to increased tenant protections, empty and underutilised dwellings became eligible for requisition by the city. From 1919 to 1923, only 2,624 housing units were built, most of which being municipal housing owned by the city of Vienna itself. As with wartime construction efforts, this had only a minor impact on the availability of housing. On 1 January 1922, Vienna was separated from the state of
Lower Austria and elevated to a state within Austria, allowing for newfound autonomy over its policy. Efforts from 1925 to 1934 were much more substantial, as 60,000 public housing units were made available in newly constructed municipal buildings. As opposed to borrowing money for the housing projects, mass construction was funded by the Vienna
Luxury Tax and the Vienna Housing Tax, which were structured as
progressive taxes. A tax on construction was also introduced. In 1984, the Vienna Land Procurement and Urban Renewal Fund was established to buy up land for the construction of social housing, The federal deregulations also made it easier for landlords to put limits on contracts after 1994. Dwellings in Vienna constructed before 1944 were unaffected by the change, retaining strong rent controls and tenant protections. In 1995,
Austria was admitted to the European Union. In 2004, construction of municipal housing was halted, with the SPÖ justifying the action in order to meet European Union regulations. In 2015, Vienna resumed the construction of municipal housing. == Present overview ==