Riess-Hahn: “The rent cap is a marketing signal”

Since the beginning of the year, the legal options for increasing rents have been tightened again and they now also apply to the free market. Susanne Riess-Hahn, head of Wüstenrot Bausparkasse, takes issue with this. “It’s an attempt to quickly send a marketing signal.” Such a brake has not yet led to a solution, but rather to further shortages and increases in prices. Riess-Hahn admits that there have been significant increases in rental costs in recent years. And the younger generation could only afford property with extreme difficulty, usually only with the support of their parents. Riess-Hahn believes that the federal states have a duty to ensure that new construction is sufficiently cost-effective.

According to an Integral study commissioned by the building society association, 48 percent of 1,000 Austrians between the ages of 18 and 75 currently live in rent, 42 percent in property and the rest with their parents, in a shared apartment or similar. 82 percent of those surveyed would prefer to switch to ownership. Last year it was 79 percent. “The desire for property is becoming ever stronger,” says Raiffeisen building society manager Hans-Christian Vallant. However, 56 percent simply cannot afford this at the moment, “that’s a huge increase of 14 percent.” On average, 75 percent of the necessary amount would be missing.

This is where building savings comes into play. 19 percent of all respondents and almost a third of those potentially interested in financing would “definitely” take out a loan from a building society. “There are fixed interest rates, stable conditions and the ability to plan the repayment,” says Marcus Kapun, CEO of start:Bausparkasse, describing the advantages. Loans amount to 20.54 billion euros (plus 0.3 percent). On average, according to Vallant, the sums are increasing again and amount to more than 200,000 euros.

Save

On the savings side, 434,000 new contracts were concluded. In 2024 there were still around 472,000. The total nevertheless climbed by 626 million euros to 15.2 billion euros. 37 percent of all Austrians have a building savings contract. “Building savings have held up very well, but of course there are a few new providers such as fund savings or cryptos,” says Kaim, head of s Bausparkasse. However, many people would not want to lose money and would therefore rely on risk-free building savings.

The state bonus of currently 18 euros per year, totaling 33 million euros, would also contribute to success. “The premium is one of the most sensible and effective state subsidies, even though it is very low,” says Riess-Hahn. It is also lower than in other countries. The system should not be questioned. “The bonus should be an incentive and motivate people to continue saving, even if the amount is only symbolic,” says Vallant. In any case, it offers leverage.