Apartments are currently scarce across Switzerland. Up to 50,000 apartments could soon be missing. Three ideas that might help.
If you want to move to a larger Swiss city or have to vacate your apartment, you currently have a difficult search ahead of you. Only 0.07 percent of the apartments are vacant in the city of Zurich, for example, while nationwide the so-called vacancy rate is currently 1.3 percent. The consulting firm Wüst Partner estimates that there will be a shortage of 50,000 apartments in three years.
Some speak of a housing shortage, others point out that the vacancy rate in the 1980s was already 0.4 percent. One thing is clear: there is a need for action.
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Swiss cities are looking for ways to defuse the situation on the housing market.
KEYSTONE/ Christian Beutler
But what can politicians, companies and communities do? Three possible measures:
deregulation
There are many examples of large construction projects that are blocked due to objections, noise protection measures or monument protection. That’s one of the reasons why less is being built than in recent years, says real estate expert Ursina Kubli from the Zürcher Kantonalbank. “There are various motivations for objecting to construction projects,” she says. “Be it the townscape, the shadows cast or buildings worthy of protection.”
Many construction projects were delayed or prevented in particular with the argument against noise protection. But there is a change here: the federal government is planning to relax the rules.
Right of first refusal for municipalities
The majority of Swiss cities would like the law to be changed, and federal politicians must act. As a possible measure, the cities see a right of first refusal for real estate and building land for cities and communities.
“With a right of first refusal, the municipalities would have the opportunity to secure properties that are still reasonably affordable and to rent them out permanently at low cost,” says Daniel Leupi, head of finance for the city of Zurich.
A proposal that caused the homeowners’ association to shake their heads: “If you use tax money for a certain clientele, they have cheap rents,” says Albert Leiser. “But everyone else who doesn’t get a chance is left behind,” adds the President of the Zurich Homeowners’ Association.
More dialogue
The Federal Council wants to address the situation on the real estate market with dialogue: next Friday, a round table with representatives from cantons, municipalities, the construction industry and representatives of the real estate industry is announced. The tenants’ association is also involved.
Various topics are on the agenda, including shortening the objection periods, the right of first refusal for municipalities, but also ideas for densification and occupancy regulations for new buildings.
More on the subject tonight at 10:25 p.m. on SRF1 in “ECO Talk”.