The number of illegal graffiti increased by 26 percent in the past year. This is now also noticeable among the homeowners. “The smearing of facades has increased significantly recently. The costs are enormous, ”says Martin Prunbauer, President of the Austrian House and Landowners Association.
“Cleaning the facade in Vienna costs between 28 and 40 euros per square meter, which is an average of 3000 euros per graffiti attack,” Prunbauer calculates. Facade cleaning in the private sector eats up an enormous amount of money. Capital, which would then be missing in the case of urgently needed investments in the infrastructure of the house.
Insurance companies rarely cover the cleaning costs
The owners are usually left with the costs. Because: “Such graffiti are not automatically included in building insurance,” said the landowner president. Owners can only insure themselves against this through special insurance contracts. But: This also costs a lot of money, includes a deductible and is only effective up to a maximum amount.
“How does an owner come to put up with the disfigurement of his house”, asks Prunbauer rightly. It is not the case that smearing house facades is not a criminal offense. Illegal graffiti falls under property damage, which can be punished with fines or even a six-month prison sentence. Unfortunately, the perpetrators are rarely caught. The clearance rate of the Viennese police in 2020 was a measly 6.4 percent.
ÖVP calls for registration office
So how do you solve the graffiti problem? “We are calling for more video surveillance at hotspots. There is also a central registration office and, among other things, the promotion of special graffiti-repellent paint for owners, ”says ÖVP councilor Laura Sachslehner.
A washable facade paint is also being tested at Wiener Wohnen. This is necessary because, according to the Housing Councilor Kathrin Gaál (SPÖ), 203 graffiti were removed from municipal buildings in the previous year. The cost: 60,000 euros!