How can the US increase the supply of affordable housing?
Vienna’s strategy?
Vienna’s Model Shows the Government Really Can Guarantee Housing for All – truthout
“The statistics certainly bear out claims of the model’s longstanding success: as the CCI report notes, Vienna has the lowest rent of any major city in Western Europe; per square meter, it is roughly three times cheaper than London, and its income distribution is far more equitable than New York City’s. Social housing has benefits that redound to many further realms of society. It is a state and community platform on which a civil service, public goods, sustainability and better lives have been built for a century.”
Vienna’s “Social Housing” Model Is a Costly Illusion—Not a Blueprint – AEI
“Supporters praise Vienna’s capped rents as evidence of affordability, but recent contracts show the city’s social housing is far from a bargain. Though base rents appear low, tenants face significant additional costs. Rents are taxed at 10 percent in Austria; they’re not taxed at all in Germany.
“Viennese renters must also cover costly utilities, repairs, and maintenance, including essentials like heating, which German landlords often provide. Once these expenses are included, rents for new leases across Vienna, including social housing, are only marginally lower than those in major German cities.
“Moreover, the benefits of Vienna’s social-housing system are unequally distributed. Long-term tenants in inherited units pay far less than newcomers, who pay a 17 percent rent premium per square foot. Because subsidized units are minimally means-tested, well-off professionals can hold on to them indefinitely. They enjoy rock-bottom rents in prime locations, while lower-income families are effectively locked out.”
Germany?
The housing crisis ‘nobody talks about’ in Germany – Context
- Germany needs 600,000 new homes
- Policies needed to boost supply, regulate rent
- Lack of affordable housing drives inequalities