Shared flats in Wels: main tenancy, subletting and your flatshare agreement
Last updated: 24 October 2026
Whether you study at the FH campus in Wels or start your first job here, sharing a flat (Wohngemeinschaft, WG) saves money. Legally a WG can be set up in two ways, and the choice decides who is liable for the rent.
Option 1: everyone is a main tenant
All flatmates sign the lease with the landlord. Such contracts usually make you jointly and severally liable (zur ungeteilten Hand): the landlord may claim the full rent from any one of you, not just that person's share.
A flatmate who moves out stays a party to the lease until the landlord releases them. Get this in writing and add the newcomer to the contract.
Option 2: one main tenant, the others sublet
One person signs the lease and sublets rooms to the others. The landlord then has a single contact, but the main tenant carries the risk if a flatmate does not pay.
If the lease forbids subletting, a landlord can rely on that ban only for an important reason where the Tenancy Act applies fully. Important reasons include:
- The entire flat is to be sublet.
- The sublet rent is disproportionately high compared with the main rent.
- More people would live in the flat than it has rooms.
- The subtenant is likely to disturb the peace of the building.
In unsubsidised new buildings a ban in the contract applies in full, so ask the landlord first. And wherever the Tenancy Act applies, fully or partly: subletting rooms for far more than you pay yourself can cost you the lease.
Your flatshare agreement
- who has which room and what is shared
- who pays how much rent, operating costs, electricity and internet, and to whom
- who paid the deposit and who gets it back on moving out
- the notice period for flatmates and how you find a replacement
Register your address
Everyone living in the WG must register within three days. The registration form is signed by whoever gives you the room, so the landlord or the main tenant. Details are in the guide on registering your address.
Find rooms in shared flats in the search. Got a free room? List it free of charge.
More guides
- Renting a flat in Wels: the rental contract explained
- Rental deposit in Austria: where it is kept and how you get it back
- Operating costs (Betriebskosten): what your landlord may charge
- Registering your address in Wels (Meldezettel)
- Leaving your flat early: successor tenants and transfer fees
- Buying property in Wels: the additional costs
- Free templates: tenant self-disclosure, handover report, moving checklist