Federal Council wants to accelerate residential construction
In view of the housing shortage, the Federal Council is planning measures to shorten the planning and building permit procedures for residential construction. For example, it is considering asserting an overriding national interest in certain cases and restricting certain objections.
According to its communication, the Federal Council is examining measures to accelerate residential construction. With its report of 22 April 2026, it is responding to five postulates from the National Council and Council of States. It is part of the federal government’s housing shortage action plan. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications to submit a consultation draft by the end of 2026.
One of these measures should create the legal basis for a national interest in housing construction. Such a legal basis would then take precedence over, for example, the protection of the townscape or listed buildings. The Federal Council is also having the restriction of the right of appeal for private individuals and the admissible complaints examined. In addition, the procedural costs for objections that are proven to be an abuse of rights could be imposed on the objectors, namely if the objection is clearly aimed solely at preventing or delaying a project.
However, the sovereignty for planning and building authorisation procedures lies with the cantons. The Federal Council can therefore only recommend that they introduce a digital authorisation procedure and set binding deadlines in order to speed up the process. The Federal Council also recommends that planning applications should only be published once they are complete. It also points out that many licensing authorities do not have sufficient staff or expertise to process complex dossiers.