Research focus: Affordable housing
The research focus covers a.o. the following questions: How do housing supply and demand develop in Vienna (and the metropolitan region) – in terms of quality and quantity? How to ensure the affordability of housing, in particular for socially disadvantaged groups or migrants? How to reduce costs, e.g. through smart planning and space-/cost-efficient construction? How to refine financing and funding models?

Die preisdämpfende Wirkung des gemeinnützigen Wohnbaus (2022): Die Studie untersucht die preisdämpfende Wirkung der gemeinnützigen Bauvereinigungen (GBV) auf das gewinnorientierte Wohnungssegment. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf Mietwohnungen. Hintergrund der Studie ist das zuletzt starke Wachstum des gewinnorientierten Wohnungsangebots in Österreich, das zusammenfällt mit einer Periode starken Mieten- und Immobilienpreiswachstums. more
: more
Vienna's metropolitan region potential of collaboration (2017): Vienna and its catchment area are increasingly growing. In particular, in the southern part of the Vienna urban region there are close structural and functional links between Vienna and its Lower Austrian neighboring communities. Cross-border co-ordination and cooperation among policymakers, local authorities and administrators becomes more important. more
Regional cooperation in the metropolitan area of Vienna (2017): Regional cooperation is becoming ever more important within a dynamically developing metropolitan region. Many new challenges are arising especially when it comes to housing and settlement development. How can affordable and high quality housing in a good home environment be provided for the growing population? Successful cooperation is first and foremost dependent on shared concerns and challenges among cooperation partners. Therefore, this study takes a close look at the goals, interests and future perspectives of the various municipalities within the metropolitan region. more
Economic Effects of Subsidised Residential Construction in Vienna 2010-2013 (2014): The City of Vienna is permanently investing in new housing construction and the refurbishment of the existing housing stock. Apart from the primary aim of generating affordable housing, these activities have economic effects, too: These investments support the regional economy, they secure local jobs in particular in the construction sector and related branches, and they contribute to a stabilisation of overall demand and thus economic growth. The study aimed at illustrating the economic interrelations of Vienna’s social housing policy. more
Readiness for Investment: Housing (2014): The report shows the results of representative sampling among Viennese households on the subject of attitudes to investment. Of interest were on the one hand investments that had already been actually and have been planned, and on the other hand also the reasons for investment and the impediments. more
Quality of Housing and Social Justice in Vienna (2014): This study analyses the quality of housing among various population groups and identifies current challenges and further potential for improvement. The results are based on a statistical analysis of the datasets „Living in Vienna“ (1995, 2003) and „Social-Scientific Basic Study for Vienna“ (2008, 2013). more
Reporting System on Housing Subsidy Schemes in Austria 2011 (2011): The study by W. Amann and A. Mundt is a summary of the current housing subsidy schemes of the nine Austrian regions. It gives a comprehensive insight of the caseloads and subsidy expenses carried out annually by the regions, which hold responsible for housing subsidies in Austria. The aim of the study is to render the nine regional housing policy schemes more comparable and position the specific scheme of the region of Vienna in the national context. more
Design- and planning parameters for cost-effective housing in Vienna (2012): The research study examines parameters relevant for quality in design and planning processes for cost-effective residential buildings in Vienna. The analysis is based on the comparison of competition entries for subsidised housing projects in Vienna submitted for public housing-development competitions of the "Wohnfonds Wien" (fund for housing construction and urban renewal). The paper aims to determine parameters for architectural design and planning correlating to the buildings costs. more
Untersuchung von Qualitäten und Standards im geförderten sozialen Wohnbau im Hinblick auf die Thematik „Leistbares Wohnen“ (2011): Beginnend mit dem Jahr 2011 wurden die Schwerpunkte des Wiener Wohnbau-forschungsprogrammes auf die Bereiche „Leistbares Wohnen“, „Technische und ökologische Qualitäten und Standards im Neubau“, „Technische und ökologische Qualitäten und Standards in der Sanierung“ sowie „Wohnen in Gemeinschaft“ gelegt. Im Bereich „Leistbares Wohnen“ sollen dabei insbesondere Aspekte der Kostenreduktion durch Planung, Pilotprojekte zu kostengünstigem Wohnbau, flächenökonomischem Bauen, Finanzierungsvarianten und Förderungsvarianten untersucht werden. more
Evaluierung und Effizienzanalyse angebotener Qualitäten und Standards von Projekten des Grundstücksbeirats sowie aus Bauträger-wettbewerben hinsichtlich der Thematik „Kostengünstiges Wohnen“ (2011): more
The Economic Linkages of Subsidised Residential Housing Construction in Vienna (2010): Using a mix of grants, loans, and allowances, the City of Vienna, via Wiener Wohnbauförderung, subsidized a construction volume of 774 million € to provide new housing, plus an additional 349 million € to adapt and improve the existing housing stock (annual averages, 2005-2009). more
Residential housing construction as a means of urban development (2010): The continuing strong population increase incites the Vienna urban planning department to huge steps in their development. Currently, several large extension areas are in the state of planning and realisation. Those were the focal point of the three-part discursive event series "Housing construction as a means of urban development", which took place in the rooms of the IG Architektur in Vienna in autumn of 2010. more
Quality of Housing and Social Justice in Vienna. A Comparison of the Quality of Housing and Household Structures between 1995 and 2008 (2010): In recent years the subjective satisfaction with housing as well as the objective quality of housing have risen in Vienna. Moreover, the implementation of the EU Equal Treatment Directive has lead to improved access of migrants to public housing and hence the social structure in subsidised housing has changed. more
Living and working – Vienna and its municipal districts (2010): In order to get the full picture of housing provision in Vienna, a synopsis of different statistical sources is necessary. The model “WOHNWIEN” records all dwellings at the small-scale parish level. (German only!) more
Evaluation of demand-side housing subsidies in Vienna (2009): The study at hand documents the available demand-side subsidies pertaining to housing policy in Vienna within a national and international context. Accordingly, the provision of housing benefits, social assistance for housing expenses and personal loans substituting future tenants' capital contributions for limited-profit housing for all of Austria's nine regions was analysed. more
Housing demand in Vienna 2009 (2009): This study's aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of current demand for housing and of the needs and wishes of people looking for a flat in Vienna. To this end, 2.007 interviews were conducted with persons over 18 years of age in July 2009. more
Municipal Housing - the Further Development of an Idea (2009): In cooperation with the City of Vienna Wokafilm produced a movie about the history of the Vienna Municipal Housing Development. The goal was to produce a movie in a way that the audience can translate to the things shown in the film and can make logical conclusions. more
Housing conditions in Vienna: Requirements of an integration-oriented housing policy (2009): Housing conditions result from two-way processes ocurring in the dynamics of demand and supply on urban housing markets. In this context, economic, technological and socio-demographic trends of development are regarded highly important in terms of impacting both demand and supply composition. more
Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus: A Socio-Spatial Profile of Housing Provision (2008): Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus - on the western side of the outer city ring road called "Gürtel" - is ranked 15th among Vienna's districts (based on the surface area). The density of population is more than four times higher than Vienna's average. In late 2007 at total of about 71,000 persons had their main residence in Vienna's 15th municipal district. more
Simmering: A Socio-Spatial Profile of Housing Provision (2008): Simmering, situated in the south eastern part of Vienna, covers one twentieth of Vienna's total surface area. Almost half of the district surface area is green land; in proportion to the total surface area, the density of population is the second lowest of all municipal districts of Vienna. more
Analysing Regional Inequalities in Construction Costs - A Vienna and Munich Case Study (2008): This study aims to analyse, if and to which extend there are systematic regional inequalities between the cities of Vienna and Munich with regard to the regional level of construction costs. more
Housing Conditions in Vienna - Changes as Mirrored in the Austrian Mikrozensus (2008): The project investigates the changes of housing conditions in Vienna during the period of 1996 to 2006 using the statistical data based on the Austrian Mikrozensus. more
Vienna Housing Market Report (2006-2008): In the early 1990ies SRZ launched a series of extensive housing demand investigations in Austria, later succeeded by systematic annual collections of experts’ opinions on Austria’s regional housing markets. Today a comprehensive housing monitoring system has been developed, well founded on these previous survey experiences and on the continuously grown experts’ network. more
Local Subdistricts with High Concentration of Municipal Housing Supply (2008): In political discourse opinions diverge on the effects of municipal housing in
terms of social integration. This report provides exemplary data regarding this set of questions based on local subdistricts ("Zählbezirke" i.e. subunits of a district used for statistical data collection) in Floridsdorf in which municipal housing accounts for a high share in the total offer of dwellings. more

Simply Social Housing (2008): In Vienna the audience for affordable new housing is steadily growing, and so are the costs from financing to the execution of construction work. The objective of this consulting study is to identify the most efficient measures of all relevant fields of action for Vienna´s housing. more
Cost-efficient housing construction (2008): In the 1990ies housing developer competitions have been introduced in Vienna as an instrument to reduced housing construction costs. The study evaluates the actual effects and compiles recommendations for cost reductions in areas like land use planning, building technique, garages, or appurtenant structures. (German only!) more
Affordability of Housing Supply in Vienna 2007 (2008): Regular household income and available assets play a decisive role in selecting housing in Vienna. Therefore the City of Vienna attaches great importance to the topic "affordability" of housing for all households living in Vienna. more
Evaluation of rental purchase as an instrument of Vienna's housing policy (2008): Analysis and evaluation of the developments in housing law that have taken place since statutory pre-emptive rights were established under the third Housing Law Amendment as well as economic and sociological aspects from the perspective of the housing industry and housing users or entitled persons. more
The Demand for Additional Supply with Housing Space (2007): The current demand in Vienna's housing market is determined by the number of households seeking new housing. Even if Vienna's population would not grow at all (which is not the case), there is a considerable demand for new housing. more
Donaustadt - A Socio-Spatial Profile of Housing Provision (2007): Donaustadt is Vienna's largest district, comprising about one fourth of the area of Vienna. Large parts of the district are not yet used intensively for business, industrial or housing purposes. They represent the largest reserves for urban development. more
Floridsdorf - A Socio-Spatial Profile of Housing Provision (2007): Floridsdorf (the 21st district of Vienna), situated in the north of Vienna on the left bank of the Danube, covers about one tenth of the total area of Vienna. Although the district has been used intensively as an industrial and housing location for a long time, some areas in the north and east are still available for more intensive housing developments. more
Forms of Supply-Side Subsidies in the Rental Housing Sector (2006): The aim of the present research project was the description and analysis of various forms of supply-side subsidies for rental housing, provided in Austria and in other EU countries. In particular, operation and effects of these supply-side subsidies were to be studied. more
Preparations for a Housing Market Monitoring System in the CENTROPE-Region (2006): Findings of the first phase of preparations for a cross-border cooperative project are briefly summarised in the final report, now presented by SRZ Urban+Regional Research Vienna. The preparatory investigations were aiming at the development of a monitoring system of housing markets in the Centrope-Region. more
Living in Vienna: Satisfaction with and quality of housing (2005): The first part of this study deals with the structure of housing satisfaction in Vienna and the changes in situations from 1995 to 2003. The second part asks which social groups have benefited from the improvements achieved since 1995 and who has not experienced an improvement in their housing quality. more
Changing living conditions of the elderly in Vienna (2005): Two quite similar surveys have been conducted in the years of 1995 and 2003. They provide the basis of an empirical study on the living conditions of private households of elderly people in Vienna. (German only!) more
Efforts of arbitration agencies in cases of laws governing tenancy in Vienna Survey and interpretation (2003-2004): If there is a litigation concerning laws governing tenancy in Vienna between the tenants and the landlords, there has to be a proceeding of the case at a special arbitration agency (Schlichtungsstelle in Mietrechtsangelegenheiten). The aim of the study is to describe and to analyse the efforts of the arbitration agency in cases of the year of 2000. more
The Impacts of EU Enlargement on the Viennese Housing Market (2002-2004): The survey deals with prospective flows of migrants and commuters from the accession countries Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The evolving demand for housing is calculated on the basis of the age and income structure of potential migrants, the size of households as well as the planned duration of residence here. more