Austria’s Chancellor Nehammer wants to “keep life affordable”. To this end, his government is planning measures to combat inflation. Among other things, there will be a price cap for most of the rents in the next three years.
Austria’s conservative-green federal government is introducing a price cap for a large part of apartment rents in the fight against inflation. In the next three years, rents should only increase once a year by a maximum of five percent, said Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Vienna. According to Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, 75 percent of all tenancies should benefit. A solution beyond the period is being worked on.
According to the government, without intervention, there would have been a risk of rent increases of 15 percent in some areas of the real estate market in 2024, Nehammer continued. You want to prevent that, said the ÖVP politician before a special session of the Austrian parliament on inflation called for by the opposition.
Intensify skimming off excess profits
The move is part of a larger package to fight inflation. The government had already announced at the weekend that it wanted to skim off the so-called chance profits from companies that make profits from fossil fuels. So far, this only happened if it was 20 percent above the average profit of previous years.
In the future, this value should be set at ten percent, it has now been decided. “It’s not possible for corporations to make a living with excess profits. That’s why we are now tightening the excess profit tax for fossil energy corporations,” said Nehammer. Even before the summer, the ÖVP and the Greens had agreed to ask electricity companies to pay more.
“Keeping Life Affordable”
In addition, many fees are to be frozen for the time being. The prices for the motorway vignette and the climate ticket, which is intended to make rail travel more attractive, should not be increased. “We will continue to ensure that we relieve people directly, that we keep life affordable,” said Nehammer.
Overall, the relief volume for citizens from 2024 to 2026 will add up to 40 billion euros, thanks to direct aid and tax breaks such as the abolition of cold progression.