“There is enough space for tourists but not for us”

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The Weber family is helpless. They have been looking for a new flat in Parpan GR since New Year’s Eve. Because the family knows: You cannot stay in your current home any longer. Their house is sold. There is a high probability that new holiday apartments will be built here in the near future. “We can’t find anything new,” says Tanja Weber, 37.

Tanja has lived in Parpan for twelve years with her husband, Markus Weber (40), and their three children. The 260-person village near Lenzerheide is a popular tourist destination with its ski slopes and cross-country ski runs. But more than that for Webers, it’s their home. Children go to school here. They are in the ski club, the father works in the municipality and works in the fire department. Anne works at Kinderspitex. “We’re rooted here and don’t want to leave,” she says.

No city life

Two of the three children are sick. One has a lung condition, the other is struggling with severe allergies. “Altitude is good for both,” says Tanja Weber. For this reason alone, they have a hard time imagining life in a city like Chur.

However, their house was put up for sale last year. Several visits took place. The realtor didn’t give the family much hope. “He said we should expect that we can’t live here any longer,” Weber says. The prospective buyers who came to see the property often expressed the same intention: they want to build holiday apartments or houses here.

few flats for rent

The property has since disappeared from the market. Is the house sold? “The landlord doesn’t give us any definitive information,” Weber says. At the request of the land registry, Blick learns that no ownership changes have taken place so far. This means that the house still belongs to the current owner. Blick couldn’t reach him when he went to press.

The worst nightmare of the family is to repeat itself for the second time. Because in November 2015 she had to look for a new apartment and had to move in the summer of 2016. Even then, they had to leave as their homes were replaced by holiday apartments.

loophole in the law

There is a lack of affordable housing for locals in Parpan. The ones advertised are almost entirely holiday apartments: 4.5 rooms for 2.2 million francs. There is almost nothing for rent. It’s a problem many Swiss mountain communities have. There is no shortage of block flats. But they are full of holiday apartments. The light is only there at Christmas and sports holidays. At the same time, local families and workers important to the region can no longer find housing.

This is because of a legal loophole. In fact, communities with a second home share of 20 percent or more are no longer allowed to build new vacation homes. The trick: It’s still possible to convert first homes into second homes.

According to the Federal Office for Spatial Planning Development, the municipality of Churwalden GR, to which Parpan belongs, has a 62.7 percent share of second homes. This means that no new second homes are actually allowed to be built in the municipality – if this gap were not present.

Conversions exacerbate the problem

This has consequences: the vacancy rate in Churwalden has dropped from 2.29 percent to 0.74 percent over the past five years. Concretely, this means that there are only 19 vacancies in Churwalden in 2022. By the way, it should be even less.

The mayor of Churwalden, Karin Niederberger-Schwitter (53) is aware of the problem: “It’s true that the more touristy a place is, the greater the pressure on converting first homes,” he tells Blick. This is a logical consequence of the second home attempt and corresponds to the supply and demand principle.

Family feels abandoned

However, according to Niederberger-Schwitter, the municipality of Churwalden recognized early that action needed to be taken and took action nearly a decade ago. “Therefore, regulations regarding the availability of construction land were introduced on the occasion of the local planning revision,” he says. This can counter the hoarding of construction land and create primary habitat. “54 first homes have been built in the last three years,” says the mayor. During this time, however, the number of residents in the municipality of Churwalden increased by more than 100 people.

According to the mayor, no additional measures are currently planned. A mockery for the Weber family. “We feel disappointed,” says Tanja Weber. “There is enough space for tourists but not for us.”

Source : Blick