Profiteers to pay up

Land sales: Babler wants to pocket profits

If Babler has his way, profits after rezoning should be severely restricted.

(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

Time and again, bizarrely cheap land deals that are sold for a lot of money after rezoning cause a stir. SPÖ leader Andreas Babler is now raising eyebrows with a proposal on how to put a stop to this. He wants to collect the additional profits - with a new tax.

This should amount to 90 percent of the additional profit from the sale of rezoned properties, according to a paper prepared for the party. "It is unacceptable for a few people to get rich from rezoning while affordable housing becomes increasingly scarce for the majority of the population," says Babler.

Almost the entire profit would have to be surrendered
In future, the increase in the value of the property should be recorded by the tax authorities at the time of rezoning and entered in the land register. A flat tax rate of 90 percent would then be payable on the increase in value of the property as a result of the rezoning.

However, according to the SPÖ plans, this tax would not have to be paid at the time of rezoning. It would be entered in the land register as a rezoning tax in the form of a mortgage in favor of the public sector. The tax would only actually be due when the property is sold.

Rededications pay off for many people in the country - there is often a direct link to local politics.

(Bild: P. Huber)

Increase in value for the general public
Specifically, the new tax was intended to replace the current flat-rate property income tax of 30 percent. As it can only be levied for the future, the flat rate of real estate income tax should be doubled to 60 percent for old cases.

The increases in value are completely unearned income that is only made possible by the public-law act of reclassification. The SPÖ chairman therefore believes that the increase in value in such a case should not remain in private hands, but should flow back to the general public.

Injustice "that some can do it themselves"
A minimum quota of 50 percent should also be reserved for non-profit housing in urban areas when converting grassland into building land. It is a blatant injustice "that some who can afford it become millionaires overnight through rezoning, while the vast majority of the population groans under rising rental costs".

FPÖ on the barricades
The FPÖ was less than impressed by Babler's initiative. For building spokesman Philipp Schrangl, the head of the SPÖ is "once again driving a ghost train in terms of housing policy". A rezoning tax would lead to less new living space due to higher land prices and thus make housing even more expensive. He also questioned Babler's credibility on this issue after the allotment garden affair involving Viennese SPÖ politicians a few months ago had remained without consequences.

Instead, the FPÖ is calling for housing subsidies to be raised to one percent of GDP via a federal subsidy, favorable financing options by restoring the Housing Investment Bank (dissolved under the Turquoise-Blue government in 2018, note) and easier housing lending by repealing the KIM regulation introduced in 2022.