In other words you’re saying it would have been even worse without it (I agree to that).
However I claim it didn’t really solve the problem, it just alleviated it - when I moved to Vienna in early 2005 finding an apartment was easy and the prices low enough that even as a (working) student I didn’t have any trouble paying for rent. You could have a good life in Vienna even earning minimum wage (I know because my part-time student job earned me less than a full-time minimum wage would have).
Today this is no longer possible - it’s not easy to get a cheap apartment and prices are higher to a degree that you need a considerably higher-paying job to lead a comfortable life and the biggest chunk of that change is due to increased housing costs.
Amsterdam, Paris, London etc have it even worse but the problem is life in Vienna used to be very affordable (not that long ago, even 15 years ago) and it’s a lot less so today.
The same can be said about Berlin, prices here are lower than Amsterdam et al but it’s still a lot higher (relative to wages) than it was 15+ years ago and the gap keeps increasing.
However I claim it didn’t really solve the problem, it just alleviated it - when I moved to Vienna in early 2005 finding an apartment was easy and the prices low enough that even as a (working) student I didn’t have any trouble paying for rent. You could have a good life in Vienna even earning minimum wage (I know because my part-time student job earned me less than a full-time minimum wage would have).
Today this is no longer possible - it’s not easy to get a cheap apartment and prices are higher to a degree that you need a considerably higher-paying job to lead a comfortable life and the biggest chunk of that change is due to increased housing costs.
Amsterdam, Paris, London etc have it even worse but the problem is life in Vienna used to be very affordable (not that long ago, even 15 years ago) and it’s a lot less so today.
The same can be said about Berlin, prices here are lower than Amsterdam et al but it’s still a lot higher (relative to wages) than it was 15+ years ago and the gap keeps increasing.