The real estate miracle in Vienna: property price laws that Spain wants to replicate.

According to The Economist and their annual livability index, Vienna is the city with the highest quality of life in the world. This is due to various factors such as safety, culture, education, healthcare, the environment, and infrastructure. However, a lesser-known aspect of the Austrian capital is its housing policy. Over the past 100 years, Vienna has stood out for its housing policy, and the municipality of Vienna has become the largest owner of residential properties in Europe: 60% of Vienna's residents live in one of the 220,000 state-subsidized units. Kathrin Gaal, the city councilor for construction, explains that the primary goal of Vienna's housing policy is to provide affordable housing. It is noticeable that Vienna also aims to limit housing costs. For example, the rent per square meter in Vienna is about 9 euros, while in London or Paris, the figure reaches 30 euros.

Viennese housing success

It goes back more than 100 years, when after World War I the city faced overpopulation and built more than 25,000 subsidized housing units. Since then, Vienna has become Europe's 'social housing city.' In Austria, one in four apartments is social housing, while Spain has only 2.5% public housing.

The quality of housing and green spaces in Vienna

This success of Vienna lies not only in the goals of comfortable living but also in quality: subsidized housing and protected zoned areas with specific standards regarding the environment, green spaces, and clean neighborhoods. One example of such housing is 'Karl-Marx-Hof', with its stylish urban architecture, and 'Hundertwasserhaus', featuring wavy facades in the style of Gaudí; both complexes showcase rich art and green areas. Vienna has also eliminated 'ghettos' by creating a housing fund that strengthens the middle class and boosts the local economy, increasing the purchasing power of families.

Availability of housing in Vienna

To obtain such housing in Vienna, not much is required: it is enough to be registered in the city and not exceed a net annual income of 43,000 euros. It is also important that the rent does not exceed 30% of the income, as many banking institutions do in Europe and Spain. Currently, the construction of public housing in Vienna has slowed down, but it has not stopped, unlike in Spain. The Iberian Peninsula has begun to interact with Austria to increase the number of newly built public housing, so Madrid is striving to balance the real estate market without price caps.