Struggling to find an Airbnb in Vienna? You’re not alone. The city is tightening the rules around short-term rentals, and some say it’s trying to push them out entirely.
With rising frustration over housing shortages and "overtourism," Vienna’s government has launched a series of measures to limit platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com. While politicians frame it as protecting residents, many hosts argue that the process has become confusing, arbitrary, and in some cases, almost impossible to navigate.
Here’s what’s happening.
Airbnb becomes a political flashpoint
While Airbnb and other short-term rentals have been a hot-button issue in Vienna for years, they’ve become even more politicised during the recent municipal election campaign.
Politicians from across the spectrum have been criticising short-term rentals for "stealing housing" and contributing to rising rents.
In March, Green Party officials in Neubau, one of Vienna’s most tourist-heavy districts, staged a media campaign warning that "Vienna must not become Venice." They pointed to buildings filled with key boxes—used for handing over Airbnb keys—as a visible symbol of the growing problem.
Across the city, complaints from residents are also rising. Inner-city District Mayor Markus Figl (ÖVP) said he has seen a surge in reports from locals upset about their buildings being turned into informal hotels.
Stricter rules already in place
The city isn’t just talking about cracking down—it’s already acted. A new amendment to Vienna’s Building Code took effect in July 2024, introducing tougher restrictions on short-term rentals. Under the new rules:
- Residents can only rent out their own apartment for up to 90 days per year without special permission
- Anything beyond that requires an exemption permit
- Entire residential buildings cannot be gradually turned into de facto hotels without authorisation
Vienna has created a nine-member Short-Term Rental Control Group to enforce these regulations. As reported by Der Standard, the group has already uncovered two illegal hotels operating in residential buildings. By the end of March, 887 reports had been filed, leading to 163 criminal charges.
The city-owned housing authority, Wiener Wohnen, has even banned 70 tenants for life after discovering that they rented out their subsidised apartments on Airbnb.
READ ALSO: ‘Homes not Hotels’: Vienna party reports 1,400 illegal AirBnB properties
Hosts say the rules keep shifting
While many residents support the crackdown, some hosts say the process has become a bureaucratic nightmare.
According to providers interviewed by Der Standard, the rules for compliance have changed multiple times, often without clear explanation.
One host said that at first, building inspectors said that a condominium agreement allowing short-term rentals was enough to apply for an exemption. But a few weeks later, officials demanded the explicit consent of all co-owners—making legal short-term renting almost impossible in many buildings.
Some hosts who tried to reclassify their properties from residential to commercial use also found the requirements changing mid-process, leading to rejected applications and frustration, Der Standard reported.
Several accused the city of trying to "completely prohibit" short-term rentals by making the rules unworkable.
Ironically, Vienna’s tough stance could backfire in some cases. One host told Der Standard that because mixed-use buildings are now so heavily restricted, owners might simply convert entire buildings into hotels rather than maintaining a balance of residential and commercial use.
READ ALSO: Am I allowed to sublet my rental apartment in Austria?
Is Airbnb really the problem?
The debate over short-term rentals often involves eye-catching numbers. The site insideairbnb.com claims there are nearly 14,000 Airbnb listings in Vienna. But hosts argue that many of these are actually hotel rooms or properties barely rented at all.
Still, with affordable housing increasingly scarce, Vienna’s government seems determined to free up every apartment it can.
And as officials double down on inspections and restrictions, the once-booming short-term rental market is likely to keep shrinking.
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