The housing shortage in Switzerland continues to worsen. Although construction activity has increased slightly compared to previous years, the pace is not sufficient to meet the rising demand. Forecasts show that only 42,000 new apartments will be built in 2025, around 20 percent less than would be necessary to ensure a stable supply. In view of strong immigration, growing domestic demand and low vacancy rates in urban regions, this will lead to noticeably rising rents and growing pressure on the housing market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
BWO study reveals problems SBCcalls for decisive action Specifically, the SBC is advocating the following measures<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n 1. Faster planning and approval procedures 2. Adapted spatial planning principles 3. Fair balancing of interests between residential construction and monument protection Political support available Housing construction as a task for society as a whole The BWO study gets to the heart of the matter. Switzerland needs structural reforms so that living space can be created more quickly again. The SBC welcomes the clear findings and calls for politicians and the administration to take responsibility now. Without reforms, the housing shortage threatens to increase further in the coming years, with all the negative consequences for tenants, families and the competitiveness of Switzerland as a business location.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Switzerland is building too few apartments. Instead of the required 50,000, only around 42,000 are expected to be built in 2025. A new study by the Federal Office for Housing shows where the causes lie and provides possible solutions. The Swiss Association of Master Builders is now calling for concrete legal reforms to ensure that housing can be created more quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_surecart_dashboard_logo_width":"180px","_surecart_dashboard_show_logo":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_orders":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_invoices":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_subscriptions":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_downloads":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_billing":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_account":true,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22358,12485,39679,22305],"tags":[39478,12525,12526,12528,21683,36630],"class_list":["post-137499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-construction","category-projects-en","category-standorte-en","category-switzerland","tag-bewilligungsverfahren-en","tag-immoinvest-en","tag-immonews-en","tag-news-en","tag-wohnungsbau-en","tag-wohnungsnot-en","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":{"bild_mit_ki_erstellt_worden":[],"lead":"Switzerland is building too few apartments. Instead of the required 50,000, only around 42,000 are expected to be built in 2025. A new study by the Federal Office for Housing shows where the causes lie and provides possible solutions. The Swiss Association of Master Builders is now calling for concrete legal reforms to ensure that housing can be created more quickly.","autor":"Quelle Bau Schweiz","ort":"","bildunterschrift":"","zusammenfassung":"","bild_im_grid":false,"gallerie":"","newsim":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
<\/strong>On July 1, 2025, the Federal Office for Housing published a comprehensive study on the causes of long planning and approval procedures and the increasing number of objections. The results clearly show that the procedures are often too complex, too lengthy and prone to delays due to objections, which are not always in the public interest. At the same time, the study also shows that there are ways to speed up procedures without undermining environmental or monument protection. It thus confirms what the SBC has been emphasizing for years: the bottlenecks in residential construction cannot be resolved without legal adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>The SBC sees the results of the BWO study as a clear mandate for politicians. Now is the time to tackle reforms consistently and thus trigger investment. Developers and investors need planning and legal certainty in order to implement projects and bring urgently needed living space onto the market. “Time is of the essence. We must act now to stem the housing shortage,” says the association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/em>Acceleration and streamlining of processes at cantonal and municipal level.
Restriction of objections to vested interests worthy of protection.
Curbing abusive objections, for example through procedural costs or liability for damages in the event of delays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/em>Increasing the utilization figures, for example by adding additional storeys.
Reduction of boundary distances in order to use existing areas more efficiently.
Creation of additional mixed zones for living and working in order to promote lively neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/em>Balanced weighting of housing requirements and protection interests.
Direct application of ISOS (inventory of Swiss sites worthy of protection) only in federal procedures directly related to the protection of the townscape.
Early clarification of the trade-off between monument protection and densification in the structure plan and in building and zoning regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>There are various initiatives in the national parliament that address precisely these points. They enjoy broad support across party lines. The SBC therefore calls for this work to be quickly translated into concrete legislative changes. This is the only way to simplify procedures, eliminate legal uncertainties and resolve blockages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>The creation of sufficient living space is not just a task for the construction industry, but a challenge for society as a whole. Cities and municipalities need reliable instruments to meet demand without losing valuable time in lengthy procedures. At the same time, it is important to maintain a balance between high-density construction, ecological requirements and the protection of local landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n