Austria: rental market overview

An Austrian residential lease sits on two layers of law: the general contract rules for renting property in the Civil Code (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, ABGB §§ 1090 ff.) and, where it applies, the Tenancy Act (Mietrechtsgesetz, MRG). Which layer governs a given flat depends entirely on the building, not on what the parties would prefer.

The MRG splits into three tiers. Full application (Vollanwendung) covers buildings with more than two independent rental or business units whose building permit predates 1 July 1953, plus subsidised new builds — here the closed rent-formation rules (Richtwert or Kategoriemietzins), the landlord's statutory maintenance duty and the full termination-protection catalogue all apply. Partial application (Teilanwendung) covers buildings with more than two units built after 30 June 1953 without public subsidy: rent is freely negotiable because the MRG's rent-formation rules don't reach that far, but termination protection still does. Full exemption (Vollausnahme) — one- or two-unit houses with no more than two independent units, for contracts signed after 31 December 2001, plus holiday flats — falls back on the plain ABGB, with no rent cap and no closed list of termination grounds.

• Rent, minimum term and the landlord's maintenance duty all hinge on this classification.
• Since the "Mietenpaket 2026" reform (in force 1 January 2026), a fixed-term lease in the full or partial regime must run at least five years for a business landlord or three for a private one — shorter is automatically indefinite.
• A fixed-term lease in the fully-regulated segment gets a 25% discount off the Richtwertmietzins (§ 16 Abs. 7 MRG).

The letting must be residential unless the landlord agrees in writing to business use, and subletting needs the landlord's prior written consent.

The MRG sets no statutory ceiling for the deposit (Kaution) in a residential lease — this is one area where Austrian law leaves the amount to negotiation. In practice, the Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) treats a deposit of three to six months' gross rent as generally unobjectionable; anything markedly above that risks being struck down as contrary to good morals under § 879 ABGB.

• The deposit must be placed on a dedicated, ward-safe (mündelsicher), interest-bearing savings account, or an equivalently secure investment kept clearly separate from the landlord's own assets.
• The interest belongs to the tenant, not the landlord.
• It may not be used by the tenant to cover ongoing rent or operating costs during the tenancy.
• Settlement and repayment — deposit plus accrued interest, minus any legitimate counterclaims — happens within a reasonable time after the lease ends, the flat is returned, and the handover report is signed.

Austrian termination rules run on the same three-tier MRG map as everything else. In the full or partial application area, a tenant can end an indefinite lease at any time with one month's notice to the end of a calendar month, given in writing or through the courts; on a fixed-term lease, the earliest the tenant can walk away is after one year, with three months' notice.

The landlord's side is far narrower. A landlord can only end the lease through the courts (gerichtliche Aufkündigung) and only on one of the grounds in the closed catalogue of § 30 Abs. 2 MRG — chiefly qualified rent arrears despite a reminder, seriously detrimental use of the flat, or urgent own-use (dringender Eigenbedarf). There is no landlord notice period as such: the court process itself is the mechanism.

• In a fully-exempt property (Vollausnahme), none of this applies — termination instead follows the general ABGB rules of §§ 1116 f., which are considerably less protective of the tenant.
• Rent adjustments tied to an index are capped since 1 January 2026: at most once a year, no earlier than 1 April, with full CPI pass-through up to 3% and only half of any excess above that — plus extra ceilings of 1% for 2026 and 2% for 2027 in the fully-regulated segment.

Neither the MRG nor the ABGB obliges a landlord to draw up a formal handover report, but it is standard Austrian market practice — and, in practice, the single strongest piece of evidence either side has. The Übergabeprotokoll records the meter readings, the condition of the flat and its fittings, and is signed by both parties in two identical copies, one for each.

It carries real legal weight at both ends of the tenancy: on move-out, it is the yardstick for any § 1111 ABGB damages claim beyond ordinary wear and tear, and it is the primary reference when the Kaution is settled and returned.

The document is not filed with any authority — it stays between landlord and tenant — but Brokik stores it alongside the lease so both sides can pull it up the moment a deposit dispute or damage claim comes up, months or years after move-in.

In the full or partial MRG regime, the landlord's maintenance duty under § 3 MRG is mandatory and cannot be reduced to the tenant's disadvantage: it covers the building's common parts and any serious, health-endangering defect, even inside the let unit. In a fully-exempt property, the lighter general duty of § 1096 ABGB applies instead.

• The tenant covers day-to-day cleaning and the small upkeep needed to keep the flat in unchanged condition, and must promptly flag anything more serious.
• If the landlord doesn't act in time after being notified, the tenant may arrange urgent, non-postponable repairs and bill the landlord.
• Structural changes, and any interference with water, sewage or electrical lines run under the plaster, always need the landlord's prior written consent.
• No smoking, and no pets without consent, are standard clauses.