Information about housing for international students in Vienna

Attention international students!

Information for international students who are looking for:

an affordable accomodation

lodging

cheap student housing

a studio

a room

to stay in Vienna

The "House Doebling" is a very large student hostel/dormitory in Vienna.
If you plan to stay in Vienna for a longer period of time e.g. for one or several years (for an M.B.A. or a Ph.D. program, for instance), please read our information page on "application for residency". You might be eligible for application. The application process takes a long time, but prices are very low in order to give students who could not afford other, more expensive ways of accomodation a possibility to live and study here in Vienna.

If you would like to rent a room during one of the months of July and/or August and/or September , please read our page on "summer rooms" in the House Doebling. These "summer rooms" can be rent only for one or several of the months indicated above (July, August or September - these are the university holidays in Austria). It is not possible to rent a room only for part of a month. If you arrive in Vienna one day before or several days after the first of a month, this should be no problem. But if you arrive in the middle of a month and leave in the middle of the next month, you have to pay the rent for two months. The price for summer rooms is only around 210,-- Euros per month.

Many international students wish to find accomotation for a few months or even only for a few weeks during the academic year (e.g. from mid-april to mid-august). In that case things are a little more difficult. If your stay in Vienna should include one or several of the months of July, August or September, we could offer you a summer room in the "House Doebling" for the respective period, but for the other months, we are sorry that we have to refer you to other organisations (houth hostels, other student dorms etc.) - see below

On rare occasions, so called "guest places" might also be available during the "academic year" (October to June) in the "House Doebling". These guest places are charged considerably more than the regular rate paid by residents who have gone through a proper application process (i.e. who have provided proof of their socioeconomic background). Guest places are offered to guest students subject to availability, and only for a limited period of time. Generally speaking, a guest place is offered e.g. when a "regular resident" student who should move in does not show up or when the student hostel is not completely booked. This means that - if you have good luck - a guest place might be available. There is no waiting time for a guest place. Just call the secretary (+43-1-3695490-16) around the first day of a month, and ask her if there are any guest places available.

During most of the year, however, the "House Doebling" is completely booked. So most international students who are looking for accomodation during the academic year, will have to contact other organisations.

Read below for further details. Things are a little more complicated in that case, as I said, but I put suggestions on three ways how you could get a room for a short period of time on this webpage - so please, continue reading!

In general, most student hostels in Vienna and the "House Doebling" in particular do not rent rooms on a short-term basis. You could, of course apply for a place and try to get a contract from a student hostel like the "House Doebling" that allows students to move in and out during the year. You could then move in and cancel your contract after a few months. There is nothing immanently wrong with that and there is no legal problem (at least in the "House Doebling"). It would be well possible - given that your contract allows you to move out during the year and that you respect the notification period (which is - for instance - two months in the case of the "House Doebling").

However, many student hostels do not allow students to move out during the academic year - and the student hostel makes them sign a respective contract the day they move in. In that case, students have to pay the rent for the whole year (!) even if they move out much sooner. If they do not pay, the student hostel can sue them, based on the contract signed by the students. So these kind of student hostels are not a good choice for (international) students who wish to find accomodation for a few months only ...

The problem is, however, that many other student hostels who allow students to move out during the academic year (like the "House Doebling") also have a waiting list for students who wish to move in. This means, that you will simply be put you on a waiting list after you have been accepted, and you do not know when you will be told that you can move in, so you have no possibility to make plans. In other words, most student hostels will not allow you to move in on a specific date of your choice, but on a date of their choice, i.e.: When you are on top of the waiting list and there is a place free, they want you to move in immediately (at the first of the next month to come). So when they tell you it's your turn, you would have to come almost at once and/or start your first payment at least, otherwise you will lose your place. This explains why getting a contract
directly from a student hostel is rather something for students who already live in Vienna and who plan to stay here for a longer period of time. After these students have completed the application process, and after the waiting time is over, they move out from wherever they stay, and at the same time they move into the student hostel/dorm that offered the place to them.

In recent years, however, the situation has improved considerably, mainly because of the fact that more and more student hostels are not completely booked. So in some student hostels, there is no waitng list at all! (In the "House Doebling", there is one, as the "House Doeblkng" is one of the most popular student dorms in Vienna.) So it might be worth contacting a few student hostels directly, as a student hostel that is not completely booked will probably accept a student even for a few months only - that's the market forces.

Three suggestions/ways how you could get a room in a student hostel/dorm, studio etc. in Vienna for a short period of time during the "academic year"

1.
As I keep receiving requests on rooms for a short period of time, I called a few other student hostels in Vienna, but it seems to me that most other student hostels/dorms in Vienna prefer to rent rooms on a yearly basis. Some student hostels, however, rent rooms every semester.

There is an organisation called "Stiftung" (or more precisely "Österreichische Studenten-Förderungs-Stiftung" which means, translated word by word: "Austrian student support foundation"). The name, however, seems to be a misnomer, as they do not only provide rooms to Austrian students but also to indernational students. I called them and they told me that they arrange for places in several student hostels/dorms for international students who wish to stay for a semester or longer. So the minimum time there seems to be a semester. This is something, at least. So here is the respective address/phone number:

Österreichische Studentenförderungsstiftung
Führichgasse 10
A-1010 Vienna, Austria, EU

Phone: +43-1-5122466-0
FAX:+43-1-5121968-0

The first number is the telephone, the second one the FAX, "Führichgasse 10" is the street name (+number).

2.
There is an organisation called "Österreichischer Akadamiker-Austausch-Dienst = ÖAD, or OEAD" (Ö is OE in international spelling). This means, translated word by word: "Austrian academic exchange service". Again, they offer their service not only to Austrian academics but also to international ones, and of course also to all those who are still on their way to academic honours ... :-)

a) for general information about studying in Austria:

ÖAD - "central office" http://www.oead.ac.at/

b) for information on housing / student dormitories / rooms to rent in
Austria (e.g. Vienna)

ÖAD - "housing"
Alserstraße 4/1/1/3
A-1090 Vienna, Austria, EU
Phone: +43-1-4277 / 28152
Fax: +43-1-4277 / 28150

(!!! rooms even on a monthly basis !!!)

c) They also have a Webpage: http://www.oead.ac.at/_english/oead_about/organisation/wohnraum.asp

I called the "OeAD" and they told me that they arrange for places even on a monthly basis - yep, yep, hurray!

It works like that: The "OeAD" rents a certain number of places in student dorms and they also have a number of studios and apartments etc. The "OeAD" then offers these places to international students even if they wish to stay only for a few months or weeks.

Of course, the "OeAD" has to pay for these places during the full time of the year, and although they probably try to get the utilization rate as high as possible, they will charge prices a little higher than if you get a contract directly from a student hostel, as the "OeAD" has to take the risk that a certain number of the rooms for which they have to pay will be empty for part of the year.

However, I think that for most international students who wish to stay for a few months or even only for a few weeks, this is the best possibility, as I think it is very difficult to get a contract for a short-term period from a student hostel/dorm.

3.
There is a third possibility:
If you are very much in a hurry, e.g. if you plan to come to Vienna already in a few weeks or even days or so, you could try to rent a room/flat via the Internet.
There is a webserver run by the Austrian student union, where people who wish to let an apartment to students can place their offers. You will find more detailed information on that server on our site on "other student hostels and rooms etc."

On this webpage you will also find information on youth hostels or hotels in Vienna, which might be your first choice if you wish to stay for a very short period of time e.g. for a few days or one or two weeks.

Hope that helps.

Peter

Have fun during your stay in Vienna/Austria!