City of Salzburg

4500 Salzburg residents waiting for affordable housing

More than 2000 households are currently waiting for an apartment in the city of Salzburg. Around 250 applications are added every month. But only 500 to 700 apartments can be allocated each year.

"It is crucial that we create affordable housing," says City Vice Mayor Kay-Michael Dankl (KPÖ Plus). He believes that affordable housing is a "cornerstone of social cohesion in the city", especially in view of the current sharp rise in rents. Dankl calculates that 1,000 subsidized apartments would have to be built each year to cover the entire demand. There is also hardly any supply for large families of up to ten people.

Dagmar Steiner, head of Wohnservice Salzburg, sees several ways to improve the situation. In future, modular construction could help to offer flexible forms of housing. The city currently only has one apartment that can be flexibly designed. It is also clear to her: "We need more affordable apartments."

At the moment, existing tenants are also being asked about their needs. The background: many older people live in large apartments that they might not even need. Senior citizens, for example, could move into smaller apartments that may be more suited to their needs.

The state capital has the right to allocate a total of 12,000 subsidized rental apartments. According to Dankl, there would have to be 6,000 more just to meet demand.