Although most houses in the Viennese allotment garden are real residential buildings, residents remain dependent on gas. Unlike garden settlements, where wood, pellets and the like can be used for heating, this is forbidden in allotment gardens. Those affected feel disadvantaged. Will the city of Vienna soon change the law?
Allotment gardeners are angry: a provision in the 1919 Allotment Law prohibits them from heating with solid fuels (firewood, pellets, coal, etc.). That was correct shortly after the First World War. People were afraid that the makeshift wooden shacks could catch fire. The situation has changed fundamentally. In the majority of the 36,000 Viennese allotment gardens there are now real residential buildings that hardly differ from the single-family houses in garden settlements. They are made of bricks and are inhabited all year round, often by families with small children. In the event of a blackout or an empty gas tank, they’re left out in the cold and can’t even warm up a cup of tea. “I wanted to retrofit a Swedish stove. My house is on its own. But I was forbidden from doing that. A cheek,” railed an allotment gardener from Liesing. FPÖ councilor Anton Mahdalik calls for changes. Solid fuels in allotment gardens were to be legalized with the amendment to the building code. “In terms of security of supply,” says Mahdalik. In addition, part of the terraces should be allowed to be used as conservatories. Will this form of heating be legalized? A spokesman for housing councilor Kathrin Gaál (SPÖ) does not want to commit himself. Changes to the allotment garden law and the building regulations are planned for autumn 2023. “A lot is currently under discussion,” says the town hall. However, the current thrust of the city is “Get out of fossil energy”, towards solar systems, heat pumps and Co. Allotment gardeners should also use these forms of energy more in the future.
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