Tensions are rising in Vienna’s 10th district, Favoriten, as local residents express anger over a project to house refugees in 110 newly built, luxury apartments.
The apartments, equipped with air conditioning, balconies, and modern kitchens, have stirred controversy as local citizens and political figures question the decision to allocate such accommodations to refugees while many Viennese struggle with substandard housing.
The joint initiative between the city government and the Protestant charitable organization Diakonie is designed to house recognized refugees and their families and prepare them for the labor market. However, the decision to offer such modern accommodations to asylum seekers has triggered outrage, particularly after revelations of the case of a Syrian family receiving €4,600 in social assistance in Vienna. Many feel that the city’s resources are being unfairly allocated to non-citizens.
Around 30 local residents staged a spontaneous protest on Wednesday morning in front of the apartment building, holding signs with slogans like, “Rental madness for Viennese, luxury building for asylum seekers!”
Alongside the protest, a signature campaign has gathered around 200 supporters.
One protester said, “Why should people who haven’t contributed to this country get luxury apartments while many of us are stuck in old, moldy housing?”
The district of Favoriten, already a hotspot for migrant communities, has seen heightened concerns about the integration of new residents. Some locals fear that the project could further strain the area’s resources and social cohesion.
The poll-topping Freedom Party’s (FPÖ) local branch in the Austrian capital strongly criticized the decision, with leader Dominik Nepp accusing the socialist mayor Michael Ludwig of prioritizing refugees over local Austrians.
“While countless Viennese have to live in moldy municipal apartments and don’t even get new windows, asylum seekers who have never worked a day here are given brand new luxury apartments with air conditioning,” Nepp said.
“There’s no money for renovations of dilapidated municipal buildings, but there are luxury apartments with attics and private gardens for refugees,” he added.
The minority FPÖ cohort on the city council has moved for a motion of no confidence against Ludwig, which is not expected to pass given the political arithmetic.
The incident has sparked a wider debate about housing inequality in Vienna. Many residents point out that minimum pensioners and low-income families often live in substandard municipal apartments, waiting years for improvements like new windows or mold remediation.
However, this isn’t a situation unique to Austria. Governments in multiple European nations are being accused by citizens of prioritizing newcomers over the locals.
Last year, a 128-apartment complex on Askanierring in the Spandau borough of Berlin was announced by the Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Berlin-Mitte (WBM) housing association to be reserved exclusively for asylum seekers.
In addition, Remix News has covered extensively the multitude of stories, particularly in Germany, of affordable housing tenants and the elderly being evicted from their accommodation to make way for asylum seekers.
Tenants in the town of Lörrach in southern Germany were informed last year that their apartment contracts were set to be terminated to make way for Ukrainian refugees, while in Berlin many nursing home residents suffered the same fate.
