The real estate expert explains the reason as follows: “Cooperatives alone cannot solve the housing problem.”

There is a gap between supply and demand in rental apartments. Will housing construction meet the great need?
Market mechanisms suggest that rental housing construction should increase significantly. However, leading indicators do not point in this direction. This is because the revised spatial planning law restricts the development of undeveloped land and also slows down densification in many places. Here politicians are asked to come up with better solutions.

They also arrange club deals with various investors that provide some form of financing. How popular are such tools and what are their advantages?
Club opportunities have gained popularity in recent years. However, they form a niche product in the real estate industry where several investors jointly finance a real estate project. Hire a professional consultant to implement this. This form of investment allows investors to jointly finance larger projects while minimizing individual risks. Each club deal is specifically tailored to the needs of the investors involved. Investors can often directly influence strategy and decisions based on a detailed business plan.

You also work in housing cooperatives. Are cooperatives easier to build because they benefit from their good reputation in politics and society?
The purpose of a housing cooperative is primarily to provide affordable housing to its members. Cooperatives make an important contribution to the diversification of housing supply and therefore to the social mix of urban areas or communities. Cooperatives, despite their good reputations, cannot build with lower barriers or more cheaply than private developers. Co-ops tend to be a bit more expensive to build because they provide more space for social gatherings and place a strong emphasis on sustainability.

However, cooperatives have advantages when they can take over land or finance construction projects under the construction law. There are various financing instruments specific to cooperatives. Cooperatives provide relatively inexpensive housing, but to a limited extent. They cannot solve the housing shortage problem alone.

For Switzerland to achieve its climate goals, pollutant emissions from real estate need to be reduced. Will this green transformation increase rents and property prices?
Not necessarily. Achievable prices for newly built properties depend on market conditions and lesser costs. For existing properties, only value-added investments can be reflected in the rent. For example, replacing oil or gas heating with renewable energy sources does not add value on its own. Other “green” investments can be rolled into leases, but this generally leads to lower additional costs and tenants benefit from this.

Roland Süsstrunk answered the questions in writing.