Vacant apartments wanted for Ukrainians
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The city and state of Salzburg are currently urgently looking for private accommodation for Ukraine refugees. Around 220 beds have been reported in the state capital so far, but they are all already occupied. Vacant apartments are currently not available; instead, refugees continue to be housed in hotels.
So far around 3,500 Ukrainians have come to Salzburg, more than 2,000 of whom have stayed in Salzburg. With the 7-Days-Hotel in Puch-Urstein (Tennengau), another hotel opened on Tuesday that is used as a refugee quarters. There are 220 beds there, 80 were occupied by people from Ukraine on Tuesday. It is the second largest quarter after the Austria Trend Hotel at the airport.
Vacant apartments: Preuner appeals to owners
But city and country are trying to move Ukrainians into private accommodation for better integration. So far, 220 beds have been offered in the state capital. The city of Salzburg is the most sought-after place to stay, partly because of the few school and kindergarten places in the country.
“We urgently need apartments and in the city of Salzburg there are some apartments that are empty. I can only appeal to the apartment owners to report these apartments to Caritas,” says Salzburg’s Mayor Harald Preuner (ÖVP). Preuner is not thinking of a vacancy tax to put apartments for refugees on the market. According to the mayor, the daily pictures from Ukraine are appeal enough.
Caritas arranges offers
Private housing for Ukrainians is also constantly being sought in the districts. Caritas coordinates the offers. “With the available living space, we still have 650 beds that are free. We have around 1,500 medium and short-term beds, but we are currently holding them in reserve for emergencies. We are currently relocating the living space,” says Torsten Bichler from Caritas. For apartment owners there is currently 300 euros monthly rental support, if they take in families, they receive 150 euros.