Open-ended lease of a flat (Austria)
Published byDocMuse
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.
An open-ended main lease of a flat under Austrian law, as it stands in 2026. It asks first whether the Austrian Tenancy Act (MRG) applies in full, in part or not at all (§ 1 MRG) and sets notice accordingly: the tenant gives one month's notice to the end of a month, in writing and signed; under full or partial application the landlord can end the lease only through the court and for a serious ground (§§ 30, 33 MRG), and without a reason only where the Act does not apply. With the main rent, operating costs and VAT, indexation under the Austrian rent indexation act (MieWeG) and the deposit under § 16b MRG. In German, to print and sign.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- How far the Austrian Tenancy Act (MRG) applies: in full, in part, or not at all
- Landlord (name with any academic degree, or the company name)
- Landlord's academic degree (if any)
- Landlord's date of birth; for a company, its number in the Austrian company register (FN) and the register court
- Landlord's address
- Tenant (name with any academic degree)
- Tenant's academic degree (if any)
- Tenant's date of birth
- Tenant's address
- Second tenant (if any)
- Second tenant's date of birth
- Address of the flat (with staircase and door number)
- Austrian Land (federal state) where the flat is
- Rooms
- Area
- Let with the flat (cellar, parking space, fitted kitchen)
- Keys
- What the regime rests on: year of the building permit, public funding, number of units in the building, owner-occupied (condominium) flat
- Start date
- Landlord's notice period if the Austrian Tenancy Act does not apply (full exemption)
- Monthly main rent (Hauptmietzins), without operating costs and VAT
- Monthly operating costs and public charges (advance payment)
- Other monthly charges: shared facilities such as a lift, heating, furniture let with the flat
- Monthly VAT (if the landlord charges it)
- Total monthly amount (total rent)
- IBAN
- Location surcharge and the facts that justify it (only under full application of the Austrian Tenancy Act with the reference rent; otherwise leave empty)
- Indexation of the main rent: under the Austrian rent indexation act (MieWeG), or none
- Deposit
- How the deposit is given: transfer, savings book or bank guarantee
- Energy performance certificate: type, date issued and energy rating
- Other terms
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- How is an open-ended lease of a flat ended in Austria?
- Unless agreed otherwise, the tenant gives one month's notice to the end of a month (§ 560 ZPO) — in writing, meaning signed by hand or with a qualified electronic signature, or through the court (§ 33 Abs 1 MRG); a plain e-mail is not enough. Under full or partial application of the MRG the landlord can end the lease only through the court and only for a serious ground listed in § 30 Abs 2 MRG, such as rent arrears despite a reminder or own need. Only where the Act does not apply, as in a building with one or two units, may the landlord give notice without a reason and out of court.
- How can one tell in Austria whether the MRG applies to a flat in full, in part or not at all?
- Full application is the rule, above all in older buildings and in buildings erected with public funds. Partial application covers mainly flats in buildings erected without public funds on a building permit issued after 30 June 1953, attic conversions permitted after 31 December 2001 and owner-occupied flats in buildings permitted after 8 May 1945 (§ 1 Abs 4 MRG). Fully exempt are, among others, buildings with one or two units and flats tied to a job (§ 1 Abs 2 MRG). The answer decides the rent, the fixed term and notice; tenants' associations, the Chamber of Labour or a conciliation office can advise where in doubt.
- How may rent be index-linked in Austria since 2026?
- Under full or partial application of the MRG only under the rent indexation act (MieWeG): once a year on 1 April, by the average change in the consumer price index over the previous year, with any part above three per cent counting only by half. Where the MRG's rent limits apply, the increase is capped at 1 % on 1 April 2026 and 2 % on 1 April 2027. A reference to § 1 Abs 2 MieWeG is enough to agree it (§ 2 MieWeG); without an indexation clause the main rent does not rise. Under full application the written demand must reach the tenant at least 14 days before the rent day (§ 16 Abs 9 MRG).
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
Related documents
- Request to inspect receipts, and objections to a service-charge statement (Austria)
The letter to an Austrian landlord or property manager when the annual statement of Betriebskosten (service charges) raises questions: it asks to inspect the invoices, contracts and the split between flats, lists the items you dispute now, asks for a corrected statement and pays any disputed balance only under reservation. Where the Austrian Tenancy Act (MRG) applies in full, the statement is due by 30 June and the receipts must be open to inspection (§ 21 Abs 3 MRG). In German.
- Tenant's application to the conciliation board or district court under § 37 MRG (Austria)
The tenant's application in Austria's non-contentious tenancy procedure: to have the main rent checked, the deposit repaid, the service-charge statement reviewed or repairs carried out (§ 37 Abs 1 of the Austrian Tenancy Act, MRG) — with the parties, the flat, the request, the grounds and the enclosures. Where the municipality has a conciliation board (Schlichtungsstelle), it is approached first (§ 39 MRG); elsewhere the district court for the flat. Vienna prescribes no form; if your municipality offers its own, you may use it free of charge instead. Signed by all tenants. In German.
- Claim for compensation for a tenant's improvements under § 10 MRG (Austria)
The letter a tenant in Austria sends on leaving a rented flat to claim compensation for improvements — a new bathroom, heating, electricity, gas or water pipes — that remain effective and useful beyond the tenancy (§ 10 of the Austrian Tenancy Act, MRG). The claim must be made in writing with the invoices, within 14 days of the tenant's own notice reaching the landlord, or it is lost. The letter lists the work, the costs and the amount claimed after depreciation. In German; print, sign and send by registered post.
- Landlord's demand for an index-linked rent increase (Austria)
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.
- Landlord's notice ending a lease wholly exempt from the MRG (Austria)
The landlord's notice ending the lease of a flat where Austria's Tenancy Act (MRG) does not apply at all (full exemption, § 1 Abs 2 MRG), for instance in a house with no more than two separate flats: out of court and without reasons, on the agreed or else the statutory period (§ 560 ZPO), or else to the next possible date, with a receipt section. Important: where the MRG applies in full or in part, a landlord can give notice only through the court, on the form “Gerichtliche Aufkündigung” (ZPForm 102), which the Austrian justice system provides free on justizonline.gv.at — this letter is not for that case. In German.
- Tenant's claim to recover increases under an invalid index clause (Austria)
The tenant's letter in Austria reclaiming rent increases charged under an invalid index clause in the lease: the clause, the grounds, the period, the amount, a deadline and the account; further increases are paid only under reservation. Note: the case law is still moving — the Supreme Court (OGH) held clauses invalid in 2023, took a different view in 2025 (10 Ob 15/25s) and ruled again in 2026 (6 Ob 34/26g); for leases signed before 2026 the rent indexation act (MieWeG) limits refunds to five years. Have the clause checked before sending, for instance by the tenants' association or the Chamber of Labour; the letter only asserts the claim. In German.