Renting in Bregenz
Bregenz is the smallest provincial capital in Austria, but the housing market does not stop at the city limits. From the station, Dornbirn is 11 minutes away by train, exactly as far as the city’s own Achsiedlung. So we cover the whole valley, and for every address we show how loud it is measured, how much sun arrives and how long the journey really takes.
See all flats to rent →These flats are currently available to rent in Bregenz.
We currently hold no flat to rent in Vorarlberg. We build a market from the data first and approach providers in the Rhine valley afterwards, not before. What this page says about location, noise, sunlight and zoning holds regardless: it comes from official sources, not from our own stock.
The difference is not the number of listings but what stands next to each one. No property description answers these three questions honestly, because the landlord writes it.
Vorarlberg publishes the zoning of every municipality with the designation spelled out, the municipality and the plan date. We query it per address. Whether the neighbouring plot is residential, mixed or commercial decides noise, traffic and what may still be built there.
Check the zoning →For every Bregenz district and every municipality in the Rhine valley we measure noise, greenery, heat, sunlight and real transit travel times. Not from the town sign, but per cell. In a valley with the Pfänder rising to the east, sunlight is no side issue.
See the district atlas →Statistics Austria publishes a building-land price for all 96 municipalities in Vorarlberg. In a valley where the flat ground is scarce, that explains more than any district average.
See land prices →Bregenz has 29,270 inhabitants, the market 311,231. From Bregenz station Dornbirn is 11 minutes away by train, exactly as far as the Achsiedlung within Bregenz itself. The neighbouring municipality of Möggers is 8 kilometres away and takes 100 minutes. Anyone who sticks to the city limits here drops half the flats that are equally quick to reach, for no reason.
We queried the official environmental noise map at 18 points across the market. The highest value is in the Marktgasse in Feldkirch at 75 decibels and above; the centre of Bregenz at the Leutbühel carries 55 to 59. Only main transport routes are mapped, because Bregenz is not an agglomeration under the directive. Where no value exists we say so, instead of passing silence off as quiet.
On the valley floor the southern horizon is low, 1 to 8 degrees. The mountain stands to the east and reaches 15.7 degrees from the centre, which hits the morning. On the slopes it is different: Thalbach 17 degrees, Fluh up to 25. And in the south of the market it becomes a real problem: in Feldkirch-Tisis the southern horizon at 22.1 degrees stands above the winter sun of 19.1 degrees. There the midwinter sun stays behind the mountain at noon.
For rental flats Austria applies the first-instructing-party principle: whoever hires the agent pays the agent. If you are asked for commission as a tenant although the landlord hired the agent, that is usually not lawful.
Fixed-term contracts under the full scope of the Tenancy Act run for at least three years and carry a 25 percent discount on the permitted base rent. After one year you can give notice yourself, subject to the notice period.
Listings usually quote the gross rent including running costs and VAT, but sometimes only the base rent. Only comparing the same figure across several flats tells you which one is expensive.
Three gross monthly rents is the usual deposit, interest-bearing and refundable at the end. Key money is only lawful for items actually taken over or for investments of real value, never for the contract itself.
There is no official rent series for the city of Bregenz, and we publish no estimate. What is documented is the provincial figure: Statistics Austria measures 9.30 euro per square metre net for Vorarlberg and 11.80 gross, 619.90 euro net per dwelling, the highest in Austria. A provincial capital sits above the provincial average, but by how much no source says.
Yes, and that is the most important advice on this page. Dornbirn is 11 transit minutes from Bregenz station, Hard and Lauterach even less, Lustenau and Hohenems under 25 minutes. That is why the market covers 38 municipalities with 311,231 inhabitants. The measure is the timetable, not the kilometre.
Usually not. Since 1 July 2023 the first-instructing-party principle applies to rentals: whoever instructs the agent pays them, and that is almost always the landlord.
Not answerable across the whole area, and we say so. The official noise map covers only main transport routes here, because Bregenz is not an agglomeration under the directive. Where a value exists we show it: 70 to 74 decibels at Bregenz station and the lakefront, 55 to 59 at the Leutbühel. Where none exists, we say that too.
The province pays housing benefit for rented flats under its own income limits and an eligible dwelling size. The rates change every year, and we will only publish them once we have documented them against the provincial law, rather than carrying over an outdated figure.
Save your search and we will let you know as soon as a matching flat in the Rhine valley comes in. Free of charge and without commission.
See all flats to rent →Letting it yourself? List it free of charge. →