Old properties work like time bombs

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For real estate owners, the era is over in the land of milk and honey. Mortgage rates have doubled in the last 12 months. It can be assumed that they will continue to increase. Some central banks have already announced their next rate hike.

The so-called green mortgages currently offered all over the country promise discounts. Depending on the provider, they are 0.25 to 0.8 percentage points cheaper than traditional mortgages. This makes the difference: With a one million franc mortgage, this saves up to 80,000 francs in ten years.

Therefore, anyone who buys an old property and is willing to energetically modernize it can benefit. However, favorable terms are subject to conditions, so the discount is usually smaller. Some banks have an upper limit on the amount to borrow, while others have a limited maturity. For example, Zürcher Kantonalbank provides discounts for conversions for a maximum period of five years.

Another criterion for most eco-mortgages: property Minergie, GEAK (cantonal building certificate), “2000 watts” or “Dr. Feist».

Banks need to decarbonize their credit books

Banks are keenly interested in financing environmentally friendly properties that are heated with as little CO₂ as possible. Because they set a goal of reducing climate emissions by 40 to 60 percent by 2030 in lending themselves. Housing loans make up 30 to 50 percent of loan volume, depending on the bank.

Tremendous efforts are required to achieve this goal. Because heating with fossil fuels such as heating oil and gas is still at its peak in Switzerland. They heat about 60 percent of all existing apartments. Hundreds of thousands of oil and gas heating systems will need to be replaced or financed over the next few years.

It’s about large volumes. According to a study by the University of Applied Sciences Zurich, Swiss real estate is responsible for about a quarter of CO₂ emissions and about 40 percent of energy consumption. According to the Swiss Federal Energy Office, more than a million homes in Switzerland urgently need energy regeneration.

“We can’t force customers”

The banks would therefore have to do more to invest in a thermal insulation or a new heating system that the owners would like. ZKB boss Urs Baumann (55) recently said at a press conference that they cannot force their customers to replace their old oil heating systems. Banks are only financial intermediaries. It’s up to the politicians to push for more renewal, he said.

What Baumann didn’t say: Banks certainly have the opportunity to set negative incentives for CO₂ ejectors by making mortgages more expensive. So you can reverse the situation and get a premium for diesel properties instead of getting a discount for green mortgage renewals.

Wieland Weinrich (47) of the consulting firm ZEB Zurich does not rule out that this could happen. It is true that “a disability system or ending of credit relations is not expected in the short term”. In principle, however, banks will have to integrate climate-related risks into their lending operations, as they have already done with other risks.

“Business terminations can also occur if banks realize towards the end of the decade that they are not meeting the CO₂ reduction targets they set in the credit book,” says Weinrich, who advises regional banks on strategy and sales.

Weinrich says banks are already looking closely at whether the properties to be financed will remain stable in terms of climate risks. It’s worth taking a look abroad to see what can happen to Swiss hosts.

Since the beginning of the year, the rental of office properties that do not reach a certain level of energy efficiency has been prohibited in the Netherlands. Screw tightening in France. In order to become climate neutral by 2050, renting uninsulated apartments will be banned.

“Which bank would like to lend for such a property?” asked financial expert Wieland Weinrich. he asks.

*Journalist Beat Schmid (54) writes on financial matters on Sunday. Tippinpoint.ch is the publisher of the online media.

Source :Blick