Fico Visits Vienna to Study Rental Housing Model

Bratislava/Vienna, 19 May (TASR) - The aim of Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) visit to Vienna on Tuesday was to gain insight into Austria's rental housing system and explore ideas for the development of rental housing in Slovakia, TASR learnt from the Government Office on the same day. Together with director of the State-Supported Rental Housing Agency Eva Lisova, Fico met Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig and visited the Seestadt Aspern urban development project. "The two systems cannot be compared. Austria has more than 80 years of continuity in the construction of rental housing. However, we can draw significant inspiration from it and encourage Austrian investment companies, which are very active in rental housing construction in Austria, to trust the Slovak government programme and invest in rental housing projects in Slovak cities that should, of course, be cheaper than standard market housing," the prime minister said in a video posted on social media. According to the Government Office, more than 75 percent of Vienna's residents live in municipal or subsidised housing, while such flats account for only 1-2 percent of Slovakia's housing stock. In Slovakia, subsidised loans for the construction of municipal housing and state-supported rental housing schemes are currently in operation. These flats have regulated rents and benefit from reduced VAT rates during construction. "There are currently 224 flats in the state-supported rental housing system, of which 50 have already been rented as part of a pilot project in Bratislava. On 21 May, we will begin handing over flats in Zilina to applicants. We also expect construction of apartment buildings to begin this year in several locations across Slovakia," Lisova said. mf