Full scope of the MRG: full protection
The whole MRG applies above all to rented flats in buildings approved before mid-1953 and to rented owner-occupied flats in buildings from before May 1945. Rented flats in new buildings built with public funds are not exempt either. For you the full scope means:
- The rent has a ceiling. In old buildings that is usually the Richtwert, in Vienna €6.74 per m² net since 1 April 2026, plus statutory surcharges and deductions.
- You can have the rent checked for free at the Schlichtungsstelle and reclaim what you overpaid.
- The landlord may only bill service charges from the act's list.
- Key money (Ablöse) without an equivalent return is forbidden.
- Protection against termination, the minimum fixed term and the deposit rules apply here too.
Partial scope of the MRG: protection without a price cap
Only some sections of the MRG apply to these flats:
- rented flats in unsubsidised new buildings whose building permit was granted after 30 June 1953
- rented owner-occupied flats in buildings approved after 8 May 1945
- converted attics with a building permit after 2001 and extensions with a building permit after 30 September 2006
What the partial scope covers, and what not
You get protection against termination, the fixed-term rules (at least three years, five since 2026 if the landlord is a business), the return of the deposit and the right of relatives to take over the lease on death. Since 2026 the rent cap also limits how much an index clause may raise the rent.
But there is no legal rent ceiling, no list of service charges and no ban on key money under the MRG. A rent check at the Schlichtungsstelle is usually not possible here, because there is no legal maximum.
Fully exempt: the MRG does not apply
Then only the contract and general civil law (ABGB) apply. Fully exempt are, for example:
- residential homes, for example for students, apprentices or older people. Student residences have their own act.
- service flats you get because of your job
- holiday and second homes for leisure
- second homes for work reasons if the lease runs at most six months
- buildings with no more than two independent flats or business units; a later attic conversion does not count
And cooperative flats?
Cooperative flats and other flats of non-profit housing associations fall first under the Non-Profit Housing Act (WGG), which takes over many of the MRG's protections. The rent there is based on costs, not on the Richtwert, and you can reclaim forbidden key money there too.
How to find out what applies to your flat
- Ask for the year the building was built, ideally the year of the building permit, and whether it was built with housing subsidies. It is often in the ad or the energy certificate.
- Find out whether you are renting an owner-occupied flat. It is in the land register (Grundbuch), and the property manager usually knows.
- Count the flats in the building: with two or fewer the MRG does not apply at all.
- If in doubt, the City of Vienna's Mieterhilfe checks for free which part of the law applies before you file anything.