The People’s Party says a significantly larger proportion of demand for housing comes from abroad.
Keystone-SDA
The Zurich branch of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party has probably collected enough signatures for the popular initiative “Right to a home – housing for our people”.
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More than 7,800 signatures were collected, the party announced on Monday in response to an enquiry from the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA.
At least 6,000 valid signatures are needed for an initiative in canton Zurich. The People’s Party plans to officially submit the signatures for the initiative against housing shortages on Tuesday. The valid signatures will then be counted.
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The demands of the initiative are to be applied if the Swiss population were to reach ten million before 2050. It is currently around 9.1 million. According to the text of the initiative, landlords would then have to give preference to “Swiss nationals and people who have lived in canton Zurich for at least ten years” when allocating accommodation.
The People’s Party explains its initiative by stating that the significantly larger proportion of demand for housing comes from abroad.
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However, Switzerland should not be overbuilt, it said. Building more and more, as demanded by business associations, would not solve the problem, it said.
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Adapted from German by AI/ts
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