Press
The fact that the Kitzbühel region is one of the most expensive areas in Austria also suits foreign property owners. Locals protest.
Kitzbühel – Once a year there is really something going on in Kitzbühel. When the Hahnenkamm race takes place in the posh ski resort, the small town in Tyrol is literally overrun by rich and famous people. Quite a few of them don’t even have to travel because they own a house. But the foreign millionaires are a thorn in the side of the locals.
Kitzbühel is arguing about investors and foreign millionaires
Many people own a property that by law should actually be used as their main residence. But de facto the owners used it as a leisure residence. The locals protest against the part-time Kitzbühel residents. Your accusation: You and investors are driving up prices in the region.
The Tyrolean Spatial Planning Act stipulates that no more than eight percent of leisure residences may be registered in a municipality. The regulation was intended to prevent places like Kitzbühel from becoming an object of speculation. But according to the Austrian private broadcaster Pulse24 The rate in Kitzbühel is now around 17 percent.
Locals are calling for compulsory auctions of rich people’s houses in Kitzbühel
The authorities are obliged to identify holiday homes disguised as primary residences. Porsche CFO Lutz Meschke, who was thrown out by the municipality of Going, was caught. Recently, the municipalities have tightened the pace against fake main residences. But for some that isn’t enough.
One of them is Andreas Fuchs-Martschitz. The former dentist and current city councilor for the Party of Independent Kitzbühel advocates for even stricter controls. Like the news portal oe24.at reports, Fuchs-Martschitz repeatedly demands in interviews that the sell-out of the homeland must be stopped. Tricksters would have to be pursued persistently and, as a last resort, forced auctions would have to be threatened.
The tourism industry is rebelling against strict controls on fictitious primary residences
The chairman of the Kitzbühel Tourism Association, Christian Harisch, criticized the controls of illegal leisure residences as “illegal practice”. Inspectors would spy on guests, examine houses, and ask for ID cards, photos and various receipts, he told the newspaper Tyrolean daily newspaper. It is “insane” how some of the actions are taken. “If this is Tyrol, then good night.”
He can count on the support of around 200 local businesses. The entrepreneurs joined forces oe24.at According to this, interest groups came together to inform that if the part-time Kitzbühel residents were to stay away, the tourism industry would be massively damaged. In a recent statement, they explained that “depending on the industry, up to 60 percent of jobs are at acute risk if you have to forego second homes.” (mt)
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