How social housing works

Vienna’s housing policy is facing new challenges and (new) approaches have to be developed to support decision making in the city. This is where the work of the Housing Research Division comes in.

Affordable land is the most important resource for social housing. Vienna uses different tools to make land available for affordable housing. One important player in this is “wohnfonds_wien”.

Vienna’s housing subsidy schemes are used to support the construction of new housing, the refurbishment of old buildings and the provision of direct financial assistance to people with low incomes.

Vienna uses different tools to keep the building of social housing competitive, innovative and to maintain quality. One tool used to achieve this is the “Developers’ Competition”.

Limited-profit organisations focus what benefits the community. They have limited income, restricted business activities, and they have to reinvest their income in new housing/refurbishment while adhering to specific rental regulations.

The public property management Wiener Wohnen provides its tenants with affordable flats and good social service. wohnpartner supports the residents in their efforts to build and improve good neighbourly relations.

Urban renewal is needed to maintain buildings, but how can local residents participate in this process? What role has wohnfonds_wien and the urban renewal offices?

Vienna makes sure that broad levels of society have access to subsidized and municipal housing. What are the access criteria for getting a municipal or subsidized flat in Vienna?

A strong level of protection for tenants and supporting regulations contribute significantly to a high quality of life. The City of Vienna supports this with free advisory services provided by experts, as well as various online services.

wohnpartner is active in promoting good community relations within Vienna’s social housing estates. Urban Renewal Offices support the ideas of local people, utilizing bottom-up processes.

Vienna has a wide range of organisation which help people who either were evicted or are threatened with eviction. The service spectrum reaches from financial support to social workers.