Anyone currently searching for an affordable rental apartment in one of Switzerland’s larger cities is likely familiar with the immense difficulty and frustration inherent in the process. Experts are now warning that the country will continue to struggle with an inadequate supply of housing to meet the demands of an expanding population, and the situation is expected to worsen over time. According to real estate economist Andreas Loepfe, the outlook is grim, with the prediction that "rents will rise over the next ten years to an extent that most people cannot imagine today."
The core of the issue is that the ever-growing demand for housing is significantly outstripping the available supply. This imbalance is exacerbated by the fact that construction activity in Switzerland has reached an all-time low. Media reports, including analysis from the SonntagsZeitung, indicate that over the past decade, fewer apartments have been built per capita than at any time since the 1950s. The data is particularly stark when looking at the period between 2020 and 2024, during which only 52 new apartments were built for every 100 additional residents who immigrated to the country.
While it is a logical observation that small Switzerland is not expandable and possesses limited land for development, this is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. Since the revised Spatial Planning Act came into effect in 2014, it has become increasingly difficult to build new apartments, particularly on undeveloped land that may be zoned as agricultural or is otherwise off-limits to developers. A recent analysis by the real estate company Wüest Partner highlights that 27 percent fewer construction permits have been granted over the past five years, which makes meeting the demand for new housing increasingly difficult.
One potential solution is high-density construction, often referred to as "denification," which involves building new apartment complexes in close proximity to existing ones rather than on vacant land. However, this approach is frequently met with resistance from local residents who lodge formal objections to these projects. In Zurich, which has been grappling with one of the most severe housing shortages in the country for several years, these challenges are particularly visible. In 2024 alone, stricter noise protection regulations were used to block the development of 3,000 planned apartments.
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Therefore, fewer construction permits are being granted: 27 percent less had been given out over the past five years, "making the demand for new housing increasingly difficult to meet", according to a recent analysis by the Wüest Partner real estate company.
