Viennese couple receives 63,350 euros back because of excessive rent!

Viennese couple receives 63,350 euros back because of excessive rent!

Many Viennese have to deal with the challenges of the housing market these days. A couple from Vienna-Landstrasse can tell you a thing or two about it because they lived in an old apartment for almost a whole decade and paid a considerable amount too much for it. How 5 minutes reports, the couple now expects a repayment of a whopping 63,350 euros due to excessive rent payments.

The couple's rental agreement was signed in 2016 for five years and was then extended twice for three years each. A suspicion that the rent was excessively high led the husband to contact the tenants' association. This led to a rent procedure in which the initial rent of 1,122 euros net per month, linked to inflation, was put to the test.

Checking rental prices

It is interesting that the price per square meter was eleven euros, but it should only have been around half this amount. In 2023 the rent was already 1,388 euros plus 50 euros for furniture rent and 200 euros for operating costs. These horrendous costs have driven many tenants to the barricades and in many cases led to legal disputes.

In their case, the property management quickly presented a settlement offer, which the tenants accepted. What is tragic, however, is that the couple was no longer living in the apartment at the time of the repayment. In this context, the tenants' association warned against waivers that could settle claims arising from the rental agreement. This is particularly important because the deadlines for checking the rent differ depending on the type of rental agreement:

• Unbefristete Mietverträge: drei Jahre ab Abschluss
• Befristete Mietverträge: spätestens sechs Monate nach Auflösung oder Umwandlung in unbefristet

Changes in tenancy law

A development that may be relevant for many tenants is the 4th Tenancy Inflation Relief Act (4th MILG), which was passed on March 7, 2025. This law aims to curb rent increases, but only affects guideline and category rents, not free or reasonable rents. Tenants who have new leases in older buildings need to be aware that their rents are often linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which creates a lot of uncertainty.

It remains to be seen how the housing market in Vienna will develop further. Many tenants are unsettled and are faced with rising prices. The bureaucratic effort involved in checking rents is high and it remains to be hoped that new laws and regulations can also contribute to real protection for tenants the Chamber of Labor turns out.

In this area of ​​tension between costs, rights and new legal regulations, it is important that tenants are well informed and know their entitlements. Because living space should not become a luxury item.