Emergency flats

The City of Vienna provides safe housing for its residents in emergency situations. The Vienna Women’s Refuge Association (Verein Wiener Frauenhäuser) and the family centres of Municipal Department 11 - Child and Youth Welfare Service (MA 11) (German) are specifically aimed at women and children who seek help.

In addition, there are a number of other institutions that offer help and assistance to anyone in need:

Fonds Soziales Wien (Vienna Social Fund - FSW)

The Vienna Social Fund and its 150 partner organisations are currently helping around 100,000 people who are in difficult life situations. The support services of the Vienna Social Fund focus on home care, disabilities, and homelessness. Refugees can also get help from the Vienna Social Fund. Its aim is to improve the life of vulnerable groups and their family members.

Service hotline: +43 1 24 5 24, available from Monday to Sunday, 8 am to 8 pm, including public holidays.

Personal advice is offered in the Vienna Social Fund’s advisory centres: Beratungszentren FSW (German)

Beratungszentrum Wohnungslosenhilfe – bzWO (advisory centre for homeless assistance)

The Advisory Centre for Homeless Assistance (German) is part of the Vienna Social Fund and places homeless individuals and families in subsidised flats.

Mutter-Kind-Heime (mother-child houses)

The staff at Vienna’s mother-child houses primarily looks after adult mothers as well as pregnant women who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless by offering them a safe haven. Occasionally, fathers and couples, together with their children, are also eligible for a place in a mother-child house. The main objective of these houses is to stabilise the living situation of their residents, and to teach mothers and fathers how to take care of their children in a responsible way. They also get help on how to live on their own when they move out.

Consultation is allocated via the Advisory Centre of Homeless Assistance (German) of the Vienna Social Fund only. Refer to this list of mother-child houses (German) for further information and contact details.

Caritas Wien

Caritas Wien (German) is a charity organisation of the Catholic Church that offers a wide range of services to people in need regardless of their social, religious, or ethnic background. Its division Caritas shelter & housing (Caritas Obdach & Wohnen) (German) focuses on issues related to housing and offers support if you are homeless or at risk of losing your home.

P7 – Wiener Service für Wohnungslose (services for homeless people in Vienna)

Caritas has set up P7 – services for homeless people in Vienna (German) for people who are already homeless and in need of immediate assistance. In cooperation with the Vienna Social Fund, P7 places homeless adults in emergency accommodation.

In_go

In_go (German) is a housing community for boys under the age of 18 who have already completed their compulsory education and struggle with a crisis situation that prevents them from living a stable life on their own. Caritas established the In_go flat, where residents can stay up to twelve months (if agreed upon even longer). The flats are allocated in consultation with Municipal Department 11 - Vienna Child and Youth Welfare Service (MA 11).

Caritas Asyl und Integration (Caritas asylum and integration)

Volkshilfe Wien

Volkshilfe Wien (German) is a non-profit charity organisation, which has been commissioned by the City of Vienna to serve the needs of individuals in the context of home care, homelessness, eviction prevention, integration into the job market, and work with refugees, children, and young people.

Wohndrehscheibe (housing hub)

Volkshilfe Wien also runs the so-called Wohndrehscheibe (German), an advisory centre that offers support in finding a flat on the private rental market, which makes it the only advisory centre in Vienna that is specifically targeted at the private market. The housing hub primarily serves low-income families and individuals. Its services are offered in various languages. In order to be able to make use of these services you have to be registered at one of the social advisory centres in Vienna.

Fachstelle für Wohnungssicherung - FAWOS (Eviction Prevention Office)

On behalf of the City of Vienna, the Eviction Prevention Office (German) of Volkshilfe Wien supports residents of private and co-operative flats who are at risk of losing their homes. This includes mediation between property management (Hausverwaltung), flat owners and tenants to prevent homelessness, for example, due to outstanding payments. It does not offer placement in flats.

Mein Wien-Apartment - Fonds für temporäres Wohnen in Wien (Fund for temporary living in Vienna)

Mein Wien-Apartment is a trust for temporary housing in Vienna. It offers newly arrived residents in employment (employment assurance is sufficient), as well as students, a place to live in one of its approximately 3,700 furnished flats. In order to assist people as quickly as possible, the application process is very unbureaucratic. The minimum time span for occupancy is seven months, the maximum length of stay is three years. In some buildings it is also possible to conclude an open-ended tenancy agreement (unbefristeter Mietvertrag).

If you want to view the flats of Mein Wien-Apartment, you will have to bring a number of documents with you.

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