Condominium Ownership in Austria: What You Need to Know in 2026

When you buy an owner-occupied apartment in Austria, you become part of a community as well as the exclusive user of your home. The rights and obligations of Wohnungseigentum are governed by the Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (WEG).

What is Wohnungseigentum?

As the owner of an apartment, you may use your own apartment exclusively and decide what to do with it. At the same time, you are a co-owner of the entire property.

Common parts (allgemeine Teile) can include the staircase, roof, façade, boiler room, bicycle and pram storage room, waste collection room and access areas. The staircase is always a common part because it is the route to the apartments. A garden is a common part if it has been designated for this purpose.

Check the Wohnungseigentumsvertrag before buying

The Wohnungseigentumsvertrag regulates the relationship between the owners. It grants exclusive-use rights for apartments, business premises, garages or parking spaces. It may also set different arrangements for sharing costs and rules for using common parts.

If you buy an existing owner-occupied apartment, you must take over the previous owners’ agreement. You should therefore review it before buying. It can later be amended only with the consent of all owners.

Who makes decisions in the building?

The Eigentümergemeinschaft is treated as a legal entity for management purposes. It can conclude contracts with specialists, insurers or a property manager. If a Verwalter has been appointed, the Verwalter represents the community externally.

Decisions are usually made at an Eigentümerversammlung, but they may also be adopted in writing by circulation. You may vote through a representative with a written authorisation valid for no more than three years.

Required majorities

• Ordentliche Verwaltung: more than half of all ownership shares, or two-thirds of the votes cast if those votes represent at least one-third of all shares.
• Außerordentliche Verwaltung: a majority decision.
• Benützungsregelung for common parts: a unanimous written agreement.

Majorities are calculated according to ownership shares. As a result, one owner can form a majority if they own more than half of the property.

Ordinary and extraordinary management

Ordinary management includes maintaining common parts, building the reserve fund, insurance, appointing the property manager, house rules and the building’s energy performance certificate (Energieausweis).

Examples of extraordinary management include building a lift, reconstructing common areas or creating new bicycle storage facilities.

Deadlines for challenging decisions

Decisions must be displayed in a clearly visible place in the building and communicated in writing.

• Challenging a decision, for example because of a formal error or missing majority: 1 month.
• Decision concerning extraordinary management: 3 months from the date it was displayed.
• If there was no proper notice of the planned decision: 6 months.

What costs must owners pay?

Owners generally share the property’s costs in proportion to their ownership shares. These can include:

• Betriebskosten: water and sewage charges, waste collection, chimney sweeping, lighting, insurance, building caretaking and property tax;
• Other management costs: such as legal fees in litigation or bank charges for the common account;
• Operation of common facilities: including the lift, laundry room, central heating and green areas;
• Management fees: gemeinnützige building cooperatives have a maximum charge, while commercial property managers have no statutory limit;
• Renovation and maintenance costs;
• Annuitäten: loan repayments if the community has taken over the developer’s loan.

The Verwalter determines the payments into the reserve fund (Rücklage). The fund must be held in a separate interest-bearing account. Since 2022, a monthly minimum per square metre applies.

Buying an apartment with another person

If two natural persons jointly buy an owner-occupied apartment, an Eigentümerpartnerschaft is created automatically, without a contract. Each person owns exactly one half, regardless of how much each person paid. Another share, such as two-thirds and one-third, is not possible.

The apartment may be used only jointly, both owners are jointly liable for debts, and neither person may sell their own share without the other person’s consent. Without an agreement, ending the partnership means either selling with consent or bringing a Teilungsklage.

Can you rent out the apartment to tourists?

If the apartment is designated for residential use under the agreement, repeated short-term tourist rentals, such as Airbnb rentals, require a change of designation. This generally requires the unanimous consent of the other owners. Permission from the Verwalter is not sufficient.

In one specific case, repeated rentals lasting between 2 and 30 days were considered short-term rentals.

Frequently asked questions

How long is voting authorisation valid?

It must be issued in writing and may be valid for no more than three years.

Can several people inherit the apartment?

An owner-occupied apartment may be transferred to no more than two natural persons. If they cannot reach an agreement, the probate court may order a public auction.

Can I rent out a subsidised owner-occupied apartment?

A subsidised apartment may be rented out only exceptionally, with the consent of the provincial housing subsidy authority, or after the subsidy loan has been repaid in full. A freely financed apartment may be rented out at any time.

Who represents the community if there is no Verwalter?

In that case, the majority of the owners may represent the community.

Practical steps before and after buying

1. Ask to see the Wohnungseigentumsvertrag before signing and check the rules on exclusive-use rights, shared costs and common parts.
2. Review the ownership shares, reserve fund arrangements and expected operating, management, maintenance and loan costs.
3. Find out whether a Verwalter has been appointed and request recent decisions of the Eigentümerversammlung.
4. Check whether your intended use, especially repeated short-term tourist rentals, is compatible with the apartment’s designation.
5. If you plan to buy with another person, remember that the default ownership split is exactly one half each.
6. Record the date on which a decision was displayed or communicated, since challenge deadlines can be 1 month, 3 months or 6 months.
7. Seek advice from a lawyer or other qualified professional before relying on a specific interpretation of the rules.

Important: This information is based on sources available online and is not legal advice. Use it at your own responsibility. For professional advice, contact a lawyer, legal professional or other relevant specialist.

Source: oesterreich.gv.at