Landlord's demand for an index-linked rent increase (Austria)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
The landlord's written demand for a higher rent under the index clause of a lease in Austria: the clause, the index and its values, the percentage, the old and new main rent (Hauptmietzins) and the rent date from which it applies. Since 2026, rents under the Austrian Tenancy Act (MRG), in full or in part, may be adjusted only once a year on 1 April, within the limits of the Rent Indexation Act (MieWeG); under the full MRG the demand must reach the tenant at least 14 days before the rent date and never applies retroactively (§ 16 Abs 9 MRG). Also for leases outside the MRG. In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Landlord (name with any academic degree, or the company name)
- Landlord's address
- Tenant (name with any academic degree)
- Tenant's address (street, house number, staircase and door; postcode and town on the next line)
- City
- Date
- Address of the flat (with staircase and door number)
- Date of the contract
- Where the index clause is in the lease (e.g. clause 5)
- Index agreed in the lease (e.g. Statistics Austria's consumer price index, VPI 2020)
- Index value at the last adjustment (base value, with its month or year)
- New index value relied on (with its month or year)
- Adjustment in per cent, as far as the lease and the MieWeG allow (written the German way, e.g. 1,8 %)
- Main rent so far (monthly, without service charges and VAT, in euro)
- New main rent (monthly, without service charges and VAT, in euro)
- Rent date from which the higher main rent is due
- How far the Tenancy Act (MRG) governs the lease: in full, in part, or not at all (full exemption)
- New total monthly rent (with service charges and any VAT, in euro)
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- When may a landlord in Austria raise the rent under an index clause?
- Only if the lease contains an index clause (Wertsicherungsvereinbarung); there is no claim to the tenant's consent to a higher rent. Under the full MRG the landlord demands the increase in writing, and the letter must reach the tenant at least 14 days before the rent date from which the higher main rent applies (§ 16 Abs 9 MRG). A demand made before the index change is void, a late one takes effect only from the next rent date, and no increase can be backdated.
- How much may the rent rise in Austria since 2026?
- Since 1 January 2026 the Rent Indexation Act (MieWeG) governs leases under the MRG in full or in part, subleases included: one adjustment a year, on 1 April, by the average change of the consumer price index in the previous year, with anything above 3 % counting only by half. Under the full MRG, where its rent limits apply (Richtwert and Kategorie rents, for instance), the adjustment is capped at 1 % on 1 April 2026 and 2 % on 1 April 2027. The act does not apply to leases outside the MRG or to limited-profit housing (WGG). The letter takes the percentage you have worked out.
- By when must a rent increase letter in Austria reach the tenant?
- Receipt counts, not posting. If the rent is due on 5 May, for example, the letter must arrive under the full MRG by 21 April at the latest (§ 16 Abs 9 MRG). Send it by registered post, best “eigenhändig”, or hand it over against a dated signature on a copy; proof that an ordinary letter was posted does not prove receipt. If the letter arrives too late, the higher rent applies only from the following rent date.
- Can a tenant in Austria have an index increase checked?
- Yes. Under the full MRG the tenant can have the lawfulness of the main rent checked by the municipal conciliation board (Schlichtungsstelle) or the district court (§ 37 Abs 1 MRG), as a rule within three years (§ 16 Abs 8 MRG). So state the index, the values and the calculation in full, so that it can be followed. If the index clause itself is invalid, increases can be reclaimed; for leases signed before 2026 the rent indexation act (MieWeG, part of the 5. MILG) limits such claims to payments from five years.
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