In 2025 Vienna approved 132 conversions. From January it is closing that door.
First, a correction to 14 July. I said Vienna was enforcing its 90-day cap in residential zones. The cap is not zoned. § 119 Abs 2a Bauordnung für Wien applies to every flat in the city. What is zoned is the way out: the § 129 Abs 1a exemption is only available "wenn ... sich die Wohnung nicht in einer Wohnzone ... befindet". Inside a Wohnzone there is no exemption route at all.
Which is why the conversion route mattered, and why this is not really a register story.
The City's own release sets it out: "Nach der 2024 eingeführten Begrenzung der Kurzzeitvermietung von Wohnungen für touristische Zwecke hat sich ein neues Geschäftsmodell etabliert, bei dem – insbesondere gewerbliche – Eigentümer*innen einen Antrag auf Umwidmung in eine Beherbergungsstätte gestellt haben."
And the reason it worked: conversion outside a Wohnzone is "bei der derzeitigen Rechtslage außerhalb von Wohnzonen unbegrenzt möglich". Unlimited, and permanent, against a § 129 exemption capped at five years.
The scale, in the City's own numbers: "So wurden im Jahr 2025 insgesamt 305 Anträge im Zusammenhang mit einer Beherbergungsstätte bei der Behörde eingebracht. Bis Stichtag 31.12.2025 wurden 132 Anträge bewilligt."
"Mit Jahreswechsel" that changes. At least 80% of floor area must stay residential. Worth knowing: that is not a new number. § 7a Abs 5 already requires "mindestens 80 vH" inside a Wohnzone. It is being pushed outwards. Also worth knowing: the release measures it on the "Nutzflächen der Regelgeschoße", and Regelgeschoß is not a term the Bauordnung uses, so the base of the calculation is undefined until a draft appears.
The new rules apply to "alle Verfahren, die seit dem Sommer eingelangt sind". Applications filed before that keep the old rules. No source gives the cut-off date.
The register is the smaller half. The Kurzzeitvermietungsregistergesetz is meant to pass the Landtag in November and take effect 1 January 2027, existing hosts to the end of Q1, new hosts from day one, platforms carrying only listings with a number.
One question I am leaving open rather than answering. Vienna calls this "Aufbauend auf einer EU-Verordnung", but describes checking first and issuing second. Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 is built the other way round. Whether that is a real conflict depends on a draft nobody has seen, and Article 2(2)(b) expressly preserves planning and housing rules.
Daily Message: Vienna is not restricting short lets again, it is closing the lawful route 132 owners took out of the last restriction.
If you hold Vienna stock, is your conversion application already filed, and do you know on which side of "seit dem Sommer" it landed?
