It’s not equally bad in every canton: This is what the falling vacancy rate means for you

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Anyone looking for an apartment in the centers of Switzerland needs a lot of patience: even more so than a year ago. The vacancy rate again decreased significantly compared to the previous year, falling from 1.31 percent to 1.15 percent. And if you find what you’re looking for, you’ll have to dig deeper and deeper into your pockets. High reference interest rates increase rents. How can the situation of tenants be improved? Blick answers the most important questions.

In most cantons the vacancy rate has fallen again. For example, in the most populous canton of Zurich, from 0.6 to 0.53 percent. In Bern and Freiburg, rates fell even more significantly but are still at 1.33 and 1.38 percent.

The situation has eased somewhat in the canton of Zug, which has the lowest vacancy rate in Switzerland; There is a third gap at 0.42 percent. However, vacancies continued to fall in other central Swiss cantons. So far, the highest number of flats are vacant in Jura with 3.17 percent.

The demand for rental flats in the centers is much higher than the supply. This is not a new phenomenon, but the situation has continued to worsen. “Even now there are still plenty of free flats in Switzerland. However, most of the time they are not where they are wanted. “The housing situation in urban areas is particularly tense,” says Ursina Kubli (44), property research manager at Zürcher Kantonalbank.

However, Kubli sees no reason to portray the city in a negative light: “The proportion of families living in the city of Zurich has increased again in recent years. Especially in places where there are cooperatives.”

According to the Zurich Tenants Association and Zurich City SP, clearly yes. They demand that the Federal Council provide cheaper loans to cooperatives. Additionally, cantons and municipalities should be given the right of first refusal to build land that they can then rent to cooperatives at discounted prices.

There are still many households in cities living relatively cheaply on existing rental agreements. But high land prices in the centers mean private investors are replacing cheap living spaces with expensive housing for new buildings and basic renovations. The city of Zug has therefore recently increased its affordable housing quota in new building projects from 30 percent to 40 percent. “As a result, many construction projects will be suspended immediately. “Here we see a classic regulatory spiral in Zug that will not lead to the construction of more affordable apartments,” says Marco Salvi, 54, of the liberal think tank Avenir Suisse. ZKB’s Kubli responds: “Such requirements are absolutely important for mixing.”

Real estate experts and civil parties are in favor of reducing regulations. “For this to be done, strict regulations such as noise protection must be relaxed,” says Kubli. The revised Spatial Planning Act, in force since 2014, also plays a central role in the proposal. Since then, Switzerland has been using its limited land resources more sparingly. “But so far there has been little reaction to the regulations. For example, higher utilization rates will be needed,” says Marco Salvi. He believes that better cluster development will also help in the long run. “Easy access to jobs in centers alleviates the urban living space shortage. This requires more infrastructure projects such as public transportation and road investments. Effective mobility pricing will also contribute to this.”

“Wherever the vacancy rate falls below one percent, living space shortages drive up rental rates,” says Salvi. Some homeowners go beyond the allowable return amount. At the current reference interest rate of 1.5 percent, this maximum is 3.5 percent. Billions more than renters are defrauded every year, according to the tenants association. That’s why the association calls for rent control, under which landlords must periodically report their returns.

Only a small portion of tenants take action against excessive starting rents. Few people want to strain their relationship with the host from the very beginning. Institutionalized control will prevent abuse. But it will also cause the housing shortage to worsen. “This would definitely be a good tool for anyone who already has an apartment. However, this will reduce the incentive for investors to build new flats. And very little is being built today anyway,” says Kubli.

Source :Blick