What is the rent cap?
It is the 5th Tenancy Inflation Relief Act (5. MILG, BGBl. I Nr. 114/2025), passed by parliament on 11 December 2025. Its core is the new Mieten-Wertsicherungsgesetz, which limits how far an agreed index clause (Wertsicherung) may raise the rent. It also caps the Richtwert and Kategorie amounts and lengthens the minimum fixed term.
The cap never raises anything by itself. If your contract has no index clause, your rent still may not go up because of inflation.
Does it apply to my flat?
Yes, if you rent or sublet a flat that falls fully or partly under the Tenancy Act (Mietrechtsgesetz, MRG). In Vienna that is almost every rented flat:
- old-building flats with a Richtwert or Kategorie rent (full scope of the MRG)
- free-market rents, for example in unsubsidised new buildings or rented owner-occupied flats in newer buildings (partial scope of the MRG)
- new and old contracts: contracts from before 2026 are covered too
Which flats are excluded?
Tenancies entirely outside the MRG, for example in a building with no more than two flats, or a holiday flat. Flats of limited-profit housing associations (gemeinnützige Bauvereinigungen) are mostly not covered either; they have their own rules. The City of Vienna's Mieterhilfe tells you for free whether your contract is covered.
When and by how much can the rent rise?
For every covered contract:
- An index rise is only possible once a year, on 1 April. If your contract names another date, the rise moves to the next 1 April.
- The measure is the previous year's average inflation (VPI).
- Up to 3 % may be passed on in full, anything above only by half. With 5 % inflation the rent rises by at most 4 %.
- A new contract is first raised on 1 April of the following year at the earliest, and then only pro rata for the full months since it started.
- A stepped rent (Staffelmiete) whose fixed steps anticipate inflation is bound by the same limit.
- If your clause gives less, the lower figure applies. The cap only limits; it never raises.
What about Richtwert and Kategorie rents?
Flats under the full scope of the MRG have extra caps: inflation from 2025 may be passed on at most as 1 % (from 1 April 2026 at the earliest), inflation from 2026 at most as 2 % (from 1 April 2027 at the earliest). From 2028 the rule of 3 % plus half of anything above applies here too.
The Richtwerte themselves rise only that much: Vienna's Richtwert has been €6.74 per m² since 1 April 2026 instead of €6.67, Kategorie A €4.51 instead of €4.47. For these rents the landlord must request the rise in writing at least 14 days before the rent is due, so usually from the May rent at the earliest.
Example for April 2026
Inflation in 2025 was 3.6 % according to Statistik Austria. For a free-market rent of €1,000 without service charges this means on 1 April 2026: at most 3 % plus half of 0.6 %, so about 3.3 % or roughly €33 more. For a Richtwert rent of €1,000 it is at most 1 %, so €10.
If your rent was already raised during 2025, only the part of 2025 not yet included in that rise counts. Service charges (Betriebskosten) are not an index rise: they are billed at actual cost and can go up independently.
Fixed terms: now at least five years
Since 1 January 2026 a fixed-term contract under the MRG must run at least five years if the landlord is a business, for example a property company, and as a rule also someone who lets more than five flats in one building. Private landlords may still set three years. If an old three-year contract is extended now, the five-year minimum applies for business landlords as well. More in the guide to the fixed term.
What if the increase is too high?
Do the maths yourself first. If the rise comes too early or is too high:
- Write to the landlord, show the allowed increase and pay the disputed part only under reservation (unter Vorbehalt).
- Get free advice from the City of Vienna's Mieterhilfe or the Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer).
- For old-building rents you can have the rent checked by the arbitration board for housing matters (Schlichtungsstelle, MA 50).
- If your rent is too high in itself, for example in an old building, the guide on checking your rent shows the steps.
- Whether your rent fits the market overall, the rent check shows.