Flat swap to combat housing shortage?: Regula Wegmann wants to swap her house for a bigger one

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Regula Wegmann (39) has been looking for a new flat in Zurich for seven months. She currently lives in a beautiful old building with 2½ rooms. She looks out over the countryside from her small balcony. Wegmann’s apartment is right next to the Botanical Garden. Your rent is 1,750 francs including additional costs; A complete stroke of luck for Zurich. “It saddens me to let this apartment go,” says the communications consultant. “But we need at least one more room!”

Wegmann has a new partner with a child. Since the girl is in kindergarten, the new apartment should be nearby. “Hottingen would be the best for us,” says Wegmann. Finding an apartment that meets all these criteria is like a Christmas miracle in Zurich. There is a housing shortage in the city: The vacancy rate is 0.06 percent. The average marketing time for an apartment in Zurich and the surrounding area is eleven days. Since living space is such a rare commodity, rents are increasing rapidly.

crash effect

This leads to another effect that further aggravates the crisis in the housing market: the lock-in effect. It occurs when rents in long-term tenancies increase more slowly than advertised market rents. There is a big price difference between current rents and market rents. For example, everyone who hasn’t moved to Zurich since 2008 saves 5,200 francs a year on rent. This is the result of a study by Zürcher Kantonalbank.

This leads to households staying in their long-standing homes, even though they are actually too big or too small. Especially the elderly do not hold back even if they do not use all of their rooms anymore. With 70.5 square meters per person, it covers more living space than anyone over the age of 65.

Crisis fuels housing swaps

At the same time, tenants like Wegmann live in too small a space and are desperately looking for more. The tenant jumped at the opportunity to find something bigger. She wrote her manager, talked to the neighborhood, researched all the real estate platforms, and subscribed to all the local real estate newsletters. Wegmann said the situation in Zurich was unstable. “Advertised apartments are often very expensive.”

Wegmann also put his apartment up for sale in exchange. This is made possible thanks to platforms such as Tauschwohnung.com. The offer first comes from Germany but is also gaining popularity in Zurich. “We have seen a sharp increase in the number of users in the last two years,” says John Weinert (31), the platform’s general manager. In Zurich alone, the platform has helped 480 households with change since 2021. Currently, there are around 1000 advertisements published in the city. Similar to a dating app, this tool recommends suitable apartments based on the criteria you enter. If both parties are interested in a trade, there will be a match.

Avoid bulk viewing

Weinert believes that moving your apartment allows you to comfortably search for a new home. “Without time pressure and group visits.” Important: Property owners must accept this. Wegmann’s landlord is open to it. “He knows how difficult it is to find affordable housing in Zurich,” says Wegmann. He is happy to have an understanding landlord. Not everyone reacts this way. There are also homeowners who are skeptical about apartment exchanges.

This is incomprehensible to Weinert. Apartment shopping is a win-win situation for homeowners. “You don’t have to worry about looking for a new tenant because the current tenant will recommend suitable tenants,” he says.

The owner has the last word

Another obstacle for tenants: “It is difficult to move from a small apartment to a large one because the demand here is greater than the supply,” says the general manager. Wegmann has felt this in recent months. Views have already occurred, but no exchange has occurred yet. But Wegmann isn’t giving up. “I also wrote online to shared apartments looking for a new roommate and asked them if they would be willing to switch apartments with me.” So far all efforts have failed.

If Wegmann finds the perfect swap apartment, he’ll need the landlord’s approval. A new lease agreement can only be concluded if the owner or management of the relevant property approves the change of tenant.

Source :Blick