2023-06-30 11:14:35
In the midst of the housing crisis, effective models of social housing are attracting more interest and desire than ever. This is no doubt why for several months the spotlight has been on theAustria and especially on its capital, Vienna. The city, where 1.9 million inhabitants live, owns 200,000 housing units while 220,000 others are managed by non-profit social landlords. So much so that a large majority of the population (62% precisely) benefits from it. In addition to a rent two to three times lower than on the private market, these social housing units often offer great benefits.
This is the case of the Alt Erlaa complex, a set of more than 3,000 housing units for more than 9,000 inhabitants located in the inner suburbs of the Austrian capital. It was the subject of a documentary: “27 storeys, Alterlaa forever” (27 floors, Alterlaa forever, released at the beginning of June, not translated for the moment) which is very successful in the country and which attracts curiosity in the stranger. Indeed, if the aesthetics of these three blocks of concrete culminating at 90 meters built between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s by the Austrian architect Harry Glück, is far from seducing everyone, the level of services offered to the inhabitants is impressive.
City in the city
Not only are the apartments bright, set in a large park and equipped with large balconies, but above all, you will find here services generally reserved for luxury residences. It is true that the architect aimed to create a real “city within the city” by applying idealistic principles consisting in offering “rich standards” to the poorest. A bit like Le Corbusier for his Cité radieuse in Marseille, except that the Austrian utopia works. Just consult the residence’s extensive website to see that it has 7 outdoor swimming pools on the roofs, 7 indoor swimming pools and even 21 sauna facilities, 2 tennis halls with 3 courts each, a badminton with 4 courts without forgetting 2 sports fields…
No wonder tenants are in no hurry to leave this place, which some like to describe as the largest retirement home in Austria. It must be said that we find here apartments of 100 m² for 1080 euros per month, charges included including heating, pool, gardeners to maintain the green spaces and even a locksmith repair service accessible 24 hours a day. And once you have been admitted to one of these accommodations, you can stay there as long as you want even if you earn a much better living.
It must be said that this set of Alterlaa is not quite a social housing complex but rather a model of cooperative housing. The social landlord asks newcomers to invest a few thousand euros in exchange for the right to rent accommodation on site. This capital can be recovered by leaving after deduction of a small annual percentage. The formula makes it possible to offer rentals at cost prices, with any profits to be reinvested in the maintenance or construction of new accommodation. Vienna also has real social housing, municipal this time, where rents are even lower but with services that are also much more limited.
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