Federal votes of September 28 –
The increase in rents is invited in the debate on the rental value
Rents should increase up to 5%. Opponents and supporters of the reform see it as an advantage for their camp. But for different reasons.
Rents should continue to increase. What fuel the debate on the rental value.
Moritz Hager
- The Federal Housing Office provides for an annual increase in rents up to 5%.
- The prediction rebounds within the framework of the vote on the rental value.
- Opponents and supporters see it as a chance for their camp, but for different reasons.
“Rents will probably increase by 3 to 5% per year.” Martin Tschirren launched, Sunday, A little bomb in the German newspaper “Nzz Am Sonntag”. The director of the Federal Housing Office justifies his prediction on the housing put on the market for the first time – we are not talking about existing rentals – by a scarcity of building land and a housing market seen ever more as an investment.
Barely published, the prognosis was taken up by many media. No wonder. Rent is one of the biggest positions in household budgets. However, the timing of this outing challenges. We are in the midst of the voting campaign for the abolition of the rental value, subject to popular vote on September 28.
The reform is acclaimed by the circles of the owners, especially German -speaking, which protests against a tax on a “fictitious income”, which they must pay. Opposite, we find in particular the defenders of the tenants who denounce a gift made to the rich owners on their back. Is Martin Tschirren’s forecasting would be blessed bread for opponents? Well, not necessarily.
More owners?
Each camp sees in this upcoming increase in rents a chance for him. “If rents become more expensive, the Swiss will be all the more encouraged to buy and therefore want to remove all obstacles to access to property, including the rental value,” underlines Nicolas Kolly (UDC/FR). The national councilor, supporter of the reform, still specifies that if more Swiss are owners, the pressure on the rents may well decrease. “It is the law of supply and demand. If fewer people want to rent, prices drop. Conversely, the construction sector will reorient to offer more accommodation for sale. ”
Carlo Sommaruga (PS/GE), senator and president of ASLOCA.
Georges Cabrera
An analysis that Carlo Sommaruga (PS/GE) sweeps away. “It’s a pure slogan!” denounces the president of the Swiss tenant association (ASLOCA). The property is inaccessible for the vast majority of the population. Only a small elite has capital and sufficient income to buy accommodation. ” The senator recalls that the population has always rejected the tax gifts granted by the Parliament to the most wealthy.
“The discretion between the tax alternatives granted to the owners and the efforts requested from the tenants, who see their rent increase inexorably, will take on the countryside.”
Carlo Sommaruga recognizes, however, that the battle will be tough, because the acquisition of accommodation is sold by real estate circles as a brand of alleged social success.
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