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LIVING IN AUSTRIA

Reader question: Does owning a second home in Austria give me the right to live there?

Austria is a popular second home destination, but what rights do you get as a second home owner?

Published: 5 October 2021 16:25 CEST

Unfortunately, buying a second home in Austria will not give you the right to live there. Photo by Sangga Rima Roman Selia on Unsplash

Unfortunately, buying a second home in Austria will not give you the right to live there. Photo by Sangga Rima Roman Selia on Unsplash

Austria’s value as a holiday destination has seen it become a popular place for people wanting to buy a second home.

In fact, some Austrians – a majority it seems – would argue that buying a second home here is a little too popular, which may justify all of the restrictions which have been put in place.

As we tackled in our explainer on this topic, buying a second home is restrictive even for Austrian citizens, let alone people living abroad.

READ MORE: How can I buy a second home in Austria?

What rights do I get as a second home owner?

Provided you have purchased the property in a legal fashion, you will accrue various rights as a second home owner in Austria.

If it is designated as a ‘second home’ (Zweitwohnsitz), you will be allowed to live in it for all or part of the year, or to rent it out.

If it is designated as a ‘fully managed’ property, you will be able to live there for a maximum of five weeks per year and it will need to be rented for the rest of the time (or left vacant).

Will owning a second home give me special residency rights?

Unfortunately for non-citizens and non-residents, buying a home does not generally confer any additional rights with regard to residency.

If you are an EU citizen, then you will be able to live in Austria under freedom of movement rules.

EXPLAINED: How to apply for a residency permit in Austria

If you are not – and that, remember, includes UK citizens – then you will usually only be able to spend time in Austria under the 90/180 rule.

This means that you can spend a maximum of 90 days in Austria out of 180 consecutive days.

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What tenants in Austria need to know about getting their rent reduced

In Austria, tenants can legally request rent reductions if their rental property’s usability is significantly impaired.

According to MieterHilfe, the association that helps renters in Vienna, Section 1096 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) regulates this. The ABGB covers rental agreements for all properties.

The law offers protection when tenants experience issues like heavy construction noise or utility outages (such as gas, electricity, or water). However, knowing when and how to apply for a rent reduction and understanding the process can be tricky. Disputes often end up in court and are decided on a case-by-case basis.

READ ALSO: Can my landlord in Austria increase the rent whenever they want?

When you can ask for a rent reduction

If your rental property’s usability is restricted, you can apply for a rent reduction. Common examples of restricted usability often include disruptions in gas, electricity, or water supplies, major construction noise from remodelling, damage to property that prevents proper use, such as a broken heating system, and more.

Importantly, tenants can claim a rent reduction even if the landlord is not directly responsible for the impairment. However, the extent of the usability issue must be clear, and the tenant must notify the landlord to allow them to fix the problem. Additionally, if a tenant repairs the issue, the rent reduction period ends as soon as the repair is made.

Not all impairments qualify for a rent reduction, though. For example, minor inconveniences or defects, issues that the tenant was aware of when signing the lease, impairments caused by the tenant’s actions and situations where the tenant has already waived the right to a reduction do not count.

An attic room can get extremely hot without air conditioning (Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash)

If there is a dispute, the court will decide the extent of the rent reduction, considering objective and subjective factors. For example, households with small children or pregnant women might receive higher reductions.

READ ALSO: Tenant or landlord: Who pays which costs in Austria?

MieterHilfe has a table with many recent cases that can give you an idea of the causes of rent reduction and the amount tenants received. For example, in one case in Vienna, the flat had significant mould infestation, and the tenants received a 75 percent rental reduction. In another case, rent was reduced by 30 percent because of “unhealthy odours” from the rubbish room that affected half of the flat.

In one case, dangerous electrical cables were accessible inside the flat, and the tenant did not have to pay any rent until the issue was fixed.

Things get more complicated when it comes to noise. In one case in 2005, the tenant got a 15 percent rent reduction due to the consequences (noise and smell nuisance) of a garage construction in the neighbouring property, but not a reduction when the next-door property was doing “normal construction work.”

Another common complaint tenants have is regarding heat, especially in Dachgeschoss apartments (attic apartments), which can get extremely hot due to the lack of ventilation and their location in buildings. In one case, the air conditioning system was positioned so unfavourably that the rooms were not cooled —the tenant got a 6 percent reduction in rent.

In another, though, the complaint regarding excessive heating was dismissed, and the tenant received no reduction because they had rented the room without any reservation or questioning, even though the place had no sun protection or air conditioning.

READ ALSO: What happens when my rental contract expires in Austria?

Legal action and rent payment strategies

Tenants must be cautious when pursuing rent reductions, the renter’s association say. Two approaches are commonly used.

You can continue paying the total rent while negotiating. The tenant informs the landlord about the issue and continues paying the total rent but reserves the right to claim a reduction later. This can be useful in avoiding eviction risks.

Or, they can reduce rent directly. This means the tenant pays a reduced amount but informs the landlord in writing. If the landlord disagrees, they may take legal action, and the court will decide the appropriate – if any – reduction.

In both cases, it is essential to notify the landlord in a verifiable form, such as a registered letter, to ensure the process is documented.

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