“Is my rent too high?” can only be answered in Austria once it is clear which standard applies. The Mietrechtsgesetz (MRG) provides several models for the main rent (Hauptmietzins) – and for many flats there is no statutory upper limit at all. The following four questions will help you find out which drawer your flat belongs in.
Preliminary: What the limit covers and what it does not
The statutory upper limits apply to the main rent (Hauptmietzins), i.e. the net rent for the flat itself. Operating costs and public charges, shares of special expenses, a reasonable fee for rented furniture as well as value added tax are added separately [S1][S5]. When you compare, therefore calculate these items out beforehand.
For a sublet (Untermiete) a separate standard applies: if the whole flat is sublet, the subletting rent may exceed the permissible main rent – apart from recharged ancillary costs and VAT – by at most 50 percent; improvements made by the subtenant may be taken into account in addition [S6].
Question 1: Does the MRG apply to your flat in full?
Rent ceilings exist only in the full application area (Vollanwendungsbereich) of the MRG [S2][S4]. If your flat falls into the partial application (for example privately financed new build after mid-1953, rented condominium in a building with a building permit after 8 May 1945) or is wholly exempt from the MRG (for example a single- or two-family house), the rent can in principle be freely agreed [S2][S4].
“Free” does not mean unlimited:
- Usury (Wucher): A contract is void if someone exploits, for example, a state of distress or inexperience and the consideration is in conspicuous disproportion to the performance [S7].
- Reduction by more than half (Verkürzung über die Hälfte): Someone who does not even receive half the common value of what they themselves give may under certain circumstances be able to demand annulment [S8].
- Value adjustment (Wertsicherung): Even for free rent in the area of partial application, the Mieten-Wertsicherungsgesetz has limited contractual index adjustments since 2026 [S9].
Separate rules also apply to cooperative flats (Wohnungsgemeinnützigkeitsgesetz) and to flats whose rent is limited by state subsidy provisions [S1][S4].
Question 2: Does an exceptional case permit a reasonable rent?
If you are in the full application area, the next step is § 16 Abs 1 MRG. If one of the cases listed there applies, a reasonable main rent (angemessener Hauptmietzins) may be agreed – measured by size, type, condition, location, fittings and state of repair at the time the contract is concluded [S1]. The most important cases [S1]:
- Buildings newly erected on the basis of a building permit issued after 8 May 1945, or rental objects newly created thereafter by conversion, extension, insertion or addition,
- listed buildings in whose preservation the landlord has invested substantial personal funds after 8 May 1945,
- flats of category A or B with more than 130 m² that are re-let quickly after vacancy,
- a written rent agreement in an open-ended tenancy that has already been running for more than one year,
- rooms not intended for residential purposes.
The details are explained in the article on the reasonable main rent.
Questions 3 and 4: Category D or reference value?
If none of these cases applies, the equipment category (Ausstattungskategorie) of the flat at the time the contract is concluded decides [S1][S3]:
- Category D (no WC or no water outlet point in the flat, or one of these facilities unusable): a fixed maximum amount per square metre applies, the category rent (Kategoriemietzins). Since 1 April 2026 this is 1,13 Euro per m² per month, and 2,25 Euro in usable condition [S1][S10].
- Category A, B or C: the reference-value rent (Richtwertmietzins) applies. The starting point is the reference value of your federal state, which is adjusted to the specific flat by surcharges and discounts [S1]. For Vienna the reference value has been 6,74 Euro per m² per month since 1 April 2026; the other federal states have their own values [S10].
The final step: fixed-term contracts and old agreements
If your main tenancy agreement is fixed-term, the maximum permissible main rent according to these rules is reduced by 25 percent – regardless of whether the reference value, category rent or reasonable rent applies [S1]. If the contract is later changed to open-ended, the reduction only falls away if both amounts were stated in the contract in writing and in numerals set out side by side [S1].
For tenancy agreements concluded before 1 March 1994, the rent rules then in force and special increase rules may still be decisive [S11]. It is especially worth seeking advice here.
Fictitious example: In 2026 you rent on an open-ended basis a 55 m² flat with bathroom, WC and gas-fired floor heating in a Graz building from 1912 with twelve flats. The MRG applies in full, no exceptional case exists, the flat is not Category D – so the Styrian reference value including surcharges and discounts forms the ceiling. If the same contract were fixed-term for five years, a further 25 percent reduction would apply.
If after these steps you suspect that your main rent is above the limit, you can have it checked in court or – where they exist – at the conciliation body. Pay attention to the statutory time limits and, if in doubt, seek support from a tenants’ advice centre or the Arbeiterkammer.