Tenants’ association sounds the alarm over rent prices
Keystone-SDA
Rents in Switzerland have risen by around 32% over the last 20 years, according to the Swiss Tenants’ Association (ASI).
Today, to mark International Tenants’ Day, the organisation is drawing attention to the growing financial burden on tenants in Switzerland and is calling for measures to be taken.
In no other European country is the proportion of people living in rented accommodation as high as in Switzerland. According to the ASI, two-thirds of households are tenants.
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The rent index rose by 32.1% between 2005 and 2025 according to the ASI. During the same period, mortgage rates reached an all-time low. The reference rate currently stands at 1.25%. As rents are legally indexed to this rate, many of them should have fallen. In reality, however, they have continued to rise, the association laments.
It is primarily low- and middle-income households that are bearing the brunt of this heavy burden, the ASI continues. People whose gross income does not exceed CHF4,000 ($4,822) spend 37.8% of their income on rent. According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) covering eight countries, including Switzerland, one in two low-income households in rented accommodation spends more than 40% of its disposable income on rent. At the same time, affordable housing is becoming increasingly scarce.
The ownership structure of rental accommodation has also changed. While in 2000, 57.3% of rental accommodation was still owned by private individuals, by 2024 this figure had fallen to 43.2%. Over the same period, the share owned by investment companies rose from 28.7% to 44.4%. According to the ASI’s analysis, these companies have achieved high returns thanks to the property sector.
The Swiss Tenants’ Association is therefore calling for a change of course from policymakers. According to the association, the principle of “cost-based rent” must also be applied.
It also says there is a need to strengthen the Lex Koller to curb the inflow of financial capital into the residential property market. The Lex Koller is a Swiss federal law that restricts the purchase of residential real estate in Switzerland by foreign non-residents and individuals without residency permits.
The association also calls for a greater number of “public-interest housing” units and criticises the indirect counter-proposal put forward by the federal government in response to the Rent Initiative it tabled. The counter-proposal would lead to an “even sharper rise in rents”, claims the tenants’ rights organisation.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
