Switzerland: a country of tenants ruled by owners

The Suisse is one of the countries with the most tenants. Therefore, Only one in three people have their accommodation, a rate much lower than that observed in almost all European countries. Therefore, In Germany, 47% of the population owns their accommodation, compared to 63% in France and 70% in the Netherlands. For example, You could therefore think that in Switzerland, policies are competing for the favors of tenants. However, parliament is primarily concerned with the owners.

The abolition of rental value, for example, has been on the agenda for thirty years without interruption. Meanwhile, In 1999, 2004 and 2012, projects aimed at abolishing or reducing this tax were rejected in popular votes. For example, At each refusal, the Federal Assembly relaunches the switzerland: country tenants ruled owners procedure. Nevertheless, The next vote will take place on September 28. Moreover, For eight years, Parliament worked for this reform to finally reach a compromise capable of rallying a majority.

This time, it is a question of introducing a tax residences, a condition prior to theabolition of rental value. Meanwhile, The association of owners Land (APF) actively campaigns to remove this tax, poorly accepted by the owners. Similarly, Despite repeated failures, the landowners have always managed to put the rental value on the agenda of the Parliament.

The owners have more than saying to say

Switzerland: country tenants ruled owners

Their requests are generally more listened to in parliament than those of the Swiss association of tenants (Asloca). In addition, And this, despite the growing importance of high rents and housing shortage in the barometer of population concerns.

Even if the APF continues the failures during popular votes, it generally manages to pass its claims to Parliament. Consequently, Recently. Similarly, she sought to facilitate lease terminations for owners wishing to recover their accommodation for personal use and to tighten the subletable rules. Nevertheless, These proposals were accepted in Parliament, but theAsloch made them fail by referendum.

All measures proposed against abusive rents have failed. as well as requests to better protect tenants in the event of lease termination. Parliament even rejects small modifications, such as the obligation for donors to publish the previous rent during a new rental. This was already the case in 2016, when this initiative had been recommended by the federal adviser Johann Schneider-Ammann (PLR/BE).

The losing ASLOCA on the whole line

The National Councilor. of the Greens Michael Töngi (Lu) does not remember an intervention aimed at improving the protection of tenants who would have obtained a majority in Parliament. However. the vice-president of the Swiss Association of Tenants has been heading for more than seven years to the National Council. The bourgeois majority generally follow the positions of the APF, explains the ecologist. As a result, at the National Council, even the claims that are unlikely to pass the people are adopted. The two chambers approved the initiative of the former president of the Association of owners. former national UDC, Hans Egloff: “Usual rents in the locality or in the neighborhood. Establish criteria with convincing value. ” The objective would remain unchanged: legitimize the abusive increases To insidiously impose the rents on the market. The National Council draws up a change in the switzerland: country tenants ruled owners law.

Unlike the questions related to work. which sometimes give rise to political alliances within the framework of social partnerships, no equivalent mechanism exists for the questions of law of the lease, explains Michael Töngi. Employers and unions agree on the need to protect wages and agree on support measures against foreign wage dumping. He would like this type of collaboration to exist between the association of owners and that of tenants. There are many common interests, for example, the fight against high prices of land.

Philipp Matthias Bregy. president of the center and member of the APF steering committee, challenges the idea that the owners are often favored in Parliament. On the contrary, the two parties would often find themselves in a dead end. The projects rejected in November. during the popular vote, would have responded to switzerland: country tenants ruled owners the legitimate concerns of the owners, in particular their right to occupy themselves the housing they rent. Tenants’ concerns were also reportedly taken into account, framing the use of apartments rented on Airbnb. For Haut-Valais national councilor, only reforms benefiting tenants have a chance to succeed. Regarding the criterion of the usual rents in the locality. the district, the situation must be clarified for the owners as well as for the tenants.

Switzerland: country tenants ruled owners

Strong pressure of owners

The Swiss association of landowners is among the important players. underlines the political scientist Michael Hermann. Unlike the Swiss Union of Peasants, it mainly exercises its influence by publishing voting recommendations for political candidates. Bourgeois deputies, who depend on these supporters, face pressures to approve the political demands of the APF. “This has the consequence that some parliamentarians approve of switzerland: country tenants ruled owners the interventions they reject personally,” he adds. This is what happened with the project to abolish the rental value. The political scientist is convinced that all those who publicly display their support for the reform do not necessarily. approve it personally.

Parliamentarians are disconnected from the concerns of tenants

It is within the UDC that the APF has the most faithful. This is revealed by a classification established by the association before the elections of 2023. During the last legislature. the UDC voted at 93% in accordance with the positions of the APF on files relating to regional planning, the law of the lease, the energy, the taxes and the rental value. In the PLR, the rate reached 85%, at the center 72%and among liberal greens almost 50%. In the PS and in the Greens, it was less than 10%. The switzerland: country tenants ruled owners national councilors UDC Monika Rüegger and Alois Huber voted 95% in the direction of AFP. At the PLR, Christian Wasserfallen obtained the best score with 94%, while in the center, Ida Glanzmann reached 84%.

Michael Hermann identifies another reason for the voting of the Parliament, mainly unfavorable to the tenants. Most of the deputies are themselves owners of their accommodation. They do not know the anxiety experienced by many tenants faced with the shortage of housing and high rents.

According to a “Blick” survey, 70% of parliamentarians own their accommodation. Among the PLR. the Center and the UDC deputies, this proportion reaches around 80%, while in the PS and the Greens, a little more than half have a good.

Did you find an error? Please report it to us.

0 comments