Evening star., 1934-09-30
HOUSING IN VIENNA
MODEL FOR CITIES.
Small, Bright Units Rent
for $3.50 a Month,
New Book Says.

The story of one of the most far
reaching experiments in municipal
low-rental housing in the world, con-
Quoted for Is years by the Social
Democratic party in Vienna. is out
lined in the most recent publication
Of the Brookings Institution, The
Housing Program of the City of Vien-
ma" by Charles o. Hardy and Robert
r. Kuczynski.
The story is of particular interest
In Washington because of the more
or less nebulous existence of scheme
OF municipal construction of iow-coSt
housing here. The causes and back
ground Of the Austrian experiment are
far different from anything en-
countered in the District, but many
of the problems met and solved un-
questionably will confront the au-
thorities here if the low-cost housing
plan is ever brought into reality.
There is one factor in common in
the two cities-dissatisfaction with un-
sanitary housing conditions existing.
particularly among those of very low
incomes. But in Vienna, just after the
war, a combination of circumstances
had driven conditions beyond the
borderlines of despair.
AT the time the municipal build
hg program was initiated" the book
says. there was a considerable num-
Der OF persons living in caves dug in
railway embankmentS, in boats. in
hiding places under bridges. and in
other emergency refugees" Even these
fortunate enough to live in houses
were, in many cases. not much bet
ter of than the cave dwellers, due
to accumulated lack of repairs and
horrible overcrowding.
Dissatisfaction Cause.
After the war. the drift Of politics
placed the Social Democratic party in
power. and at the same time gave
Vienna much greater control over
It's own municipal destinies than it
had possessed when the gay city was
the center Of the Hapsburg Empire.
The Social Democrats Immediately
launched their municipal housing
venture. which ran Is years and
ended only when the guns of the little
Dollfuss thundered against the Karl
Marx Hof, gigantic apartment
building constructed by the city
For the most part, the building
program has confined itself to the
construction of apartments, although
there has been some work in the
building of small row and detached
houses. The number of municipal
apartment units inhabited at the
beginning Of 1929 was 28.346, and at
the end of the year 33.O2l.
The truly. startling aspect Of the
program is the extremely low rental
charges. The rental. of course,
huctuates with the size, equipment
and general desirability of the unit,
but of a typical small unit the
authors say:
I'VE shall not be far wrong if we
figure the total expense for rent and
tax "a rent tax which must be paid
by all tenants) for the predominant
type Of dwelling Cmeaning apartment
until consisting of a small hall,
kitchen, and full sized room, all
directly lighted and ventilated, with
hardwood floors, white enameled
doors and gas stove furnished by the
city. electric light. water, and toilet
in the dwelling. at $3.50 zone dollar
and fifty cents) per month"
Financed by Taxes.
With two minor exceptions the
whole program was financed out of
current taxation. on the theory that
II bond issues were floated the cost
OF financing would eventually find its
way in the rents. while the admins
tration desired to have the rents
reflect operating expenses only. To
this end the entire capital invested in
the structures is wiped out as book
keeping entry, and rents are cal
culated only on operating expenses.
The rent" the book says, is de-
termined by adding together the op-
Grating expenses for which the house
owners are reSponsible-water con-
sumption, cleaning of pipes, sweeping
OF chimneys, lighting of halls. insur-
snce-the expense for the maintenance
of the building and the gardens, and
the cost Of management. No interest
Is charged for the capital invested in
the building. The repair costs are
not the current expenditures. but fiat
sums estimated to cover average costs.
Since new buildings naturally do not
require any considerable amount of
repair, reserve fund is accumulated