Bringing new ideas to housing research

Austria has several elaborate instruments for financing the construction and the management of affordable housing, both public and private. The main public instrument that supports the delivery of both new affordable housing and finance renovations is the Wohnbauförderung der Länder, where funding is provided via the nine regional authorities in Austria. While this instrument has proved to be a relatively stable source of funding for affordable housing providers over many decades, recent developments in the housing market have presented a number of challenges to the effectiveness of this funding instrument. This paper takes stock of the system of public housing finance in Austria by looking at continuities and discontinuities between the 1990s and 2023, both in terms of public spending and in terms of the delivery of new affordable housing. The paper does this by drawing on public data on affordable housing finance and on data gathered and published by the Austrian Federation of Limited-Profit Housing Associations (GBV). The paper critically assesses this system and draws lessons of relevance for Austrian and EU housing policymaking.