Sub-letting on Internet platform is ground for termination

The main tenants of an apartment in the center of Vienna offered its rental on a daily, weekly or monthly basis on an online booking platform directed to international users. They liked to charge an average of € 240.00 per day, € 1.540,00 per week or € 6.600,00 per month, with additional charges per person per night. Their total expenses amounted to around € 120,00 per day. For the subtenancy the main tenants received up to € 400,00 per day and thus more than 200% they had to spend themselves. This constitues a valid reason for termination of the use of the apartment for disproportionately high consideration pursuant to § 30 (2) Z 4 MRG. Even a single daily rental can be considered as utilisation, if it happens more than once or temporarily and is intended to create a source of income. The apartment must not be sublet at the time of the declaration of the termination, it is sufficient that it is offered. Disproportionality is fulfilled if the daily rental income exceeds the expenses per day by more than 100%; the comparison of monthly expenses of the apartment is not decisive. [OGH 29.08.2018, 7 Ob 189/ 17w]

• [“MRG” is the Austrian Act on Tenancy Law.]