Subsidies and funding

Image: Several two-eurocent coins are on a blue cloth.

Generally, it is possible to receive subsidies and funding for accommodations in all nine Austrian federal states. However, the provisions of law are not unitarily regulated, but differ in each federal state.

Please note that third-country nationals are subjected to restrictions on the allocations of subsidies and that subsidies can only be allocated after submitting particular requirements.

Rental apartments

Building developers can gain profits from government aid in the course of building or renovating rental apartments. These sponsored apartments are also cheaper for tenants, since one-time and running costs are lower than in non-sponsored apartments. However, certain requirements (f.ex. income, number of people) must be fulfilled in order to be able to apply for a sponsored apartment. The requirements also apply to potential new tenants.

Apart from funding, there are also various subsidies for tenants. Certain requirements need to be fulfilled in order to receive these subsidies:

You need to have an urgent need for accommodation and you need to permanently live in the apartment in order to receive housing benefits. Important criteria are your income, the size of your family and the amount of housing costs.

Persons in greater need, who can neither pay rent nor service charges, can apply for rent allowance at the social assistance office.

If the house rent is increased due to renovation or you need to pay a certain share for the preservation and improvement of the apartment building, you can apply for rent allowance benefits. However, a certain level of income must not be exceeded. You need to hand in your application at a competent finance authority.

Freehold flats

Prospective property owners must finance their freehold flats themselves. If their resources for financing a freehold flat are not sufficient, there is the possibility to apply for a bank loan.

There are also particular criteria for buying sponsored freehold flats, like the income and the proof of accommodation need. The potential new property owners also need to be eligible for benefits, in case of a selling. Otherwise the sale will not be sustained by the organisations allocating funding.

It is often the case that funding is administered as subsidies of established credit instalments or as loan of a particular federal state.

 

Source: BMASK

 

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