Update of area-based surcharges in Vienna

Supreme Court decision lead to update

The Austrian Supreme Court recently had to decide in the case of a tenant, which can possibly have far-reaching consequences and already lead to the update of the so called “Lagezuschlagskarte” of the City of Vienna.

What is the “Lagezuschlagskarte”?
The “Lagezuschlagskarte” is an online available service, which consists of a map of Vienna, whose quarters are tinted in different colours. It serves as an orientation for landlords to determine the maximum permitted area based surcharges on a rental unit. The surcharges are being calculated based on the land prices. Right now, such surcharges do not exist in “Gründerzeit” quarters (erected between the late 1870s until the early 1900 and mostly close to the “Gürtel” street), because they are being considered as areas “on average”. Therefore, the surcharges are only earmarked in quarters with areas “above average”, for example due to good public transport connections.

Tenant claims illegitimate surcharges
The reason for updating the „Lagezuschlagskarte” has been a lawsuit between the tenant of an apartment in the fifth Viennese district and her landlord. The question was whether or not it is legitimate to demand surcharges in the correspondingly coloured city quarters. The court of first instance decided that the suitor’s apartment was situated in a location above average. It had to be compared with any other parts of Vienna and not only the ones within the “Gürtel”. The court of second instance did not agree, but referred to the “Richtwertgesetz”: The comparison is based on the immediate residential environment. Furthermore, the apartment may be situated in an infrastructurally well-equipped neighbourhood, which however is a normal situation in the fifth district. According to the court of second instance the surcharges have been charged illegitimately.

The OGH’s decision
The case then came to the Supreme Court (OGH), which decided on the reference area: The public perception is decisive for the valuing comparison with other areas which has to be conducted with surrounding locations that are being perceived as a uniform residential area on the housing market. This area does not have to be limited to a certain district; the inner-city area with the typical, multi-storey construction can represent such a uniform area. Therefore, the surcharge is only legitimate if the rental unit’s neighbourhood within this area is above average. Whereas a good public transport connection or good local supply are not sufficient, since these characteristics are not unique within the inner-city area. In case of dispute, the landlord has to provide evidence that the assumption of an above-average position because of the neighbourhood factors is legitimate.

The updated map is now online. Further information can be found in the RIS (in German).
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