Innsbruck unlocks land for subsidised housing

Innsbruck has taken an important step towards making unused land available for subsidised housing, ORF reported. An amendment to the city’s local spatial planning concept is now legally binding, and concrete projects are already being planned on several plots.

The change provides the legal basis for the city to mobilise building plots that have remained unused for decades.

Innsbruck can designate reserve plots whose owners must make them available for subsidised housing projects, in return for payment, within a specified period. If they do not, the land will be rezoned from building land to open land over a period of 10 years.

The city can also approach owners of suitable plots to develop subsidised housing projects jointly. Five reserve plots have so far been designated, while housing projects are already being developed on six properties, according to the city.