VIENNA — October 18, 2025 : Austria’s Vice Chancellor and Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) leader Andreas Babler has announced a sweeping housing reform agenda aimed at making rents fairer and curbing the growth of short-term tourist rentals such as Airbnb.
Declaring that “housing is a basic right,” Babler said the SPÖ’s proposals go beyond the current coalition’s measures, including rent caps and longer minimum leases. He emphasized that the reforms seek to ensure “justice in housing” and protect citizens from future inflation-driven cost surges.
The plan calls for criminal penalties for exploitative rent increases and violations of tenancy law, arguing that current fines do little to deter abuses in the private housing market. Revenue from penalties would be used to expand affordable housing.
To address what Babler described as the “unchecked spread” of tourist rentals, the SPÖ wants mandatory registration and tougher enforcement against illegal listings. Utility and CO₂ costs, he added, should be “fairly divided” between landlords and tenants, while property insurance should fall solely on owners.
The SPÖ also proposes keeping public land in government hands and reallocating unused plots owned by state enterprises such as ÖBB (Austrian Railways) and Austrian Federal Forests for nonprofit housing.
Babler criticized previous conservative-green governments for letting inflation spiral and benefiting “a few crisis profiteers.” He said the SPÖ’s participation in a coalition with the ÖVP and NEOS was essential to prevent “a far-right government under Herbert Kickl.”
Confident his policies will resonate, Babler said, “We pursue a politics that intervenes because markets must serve people, not the other way around.”
