For many people, finding a place to live in Switzerland is a major challenge. In cities especially, housing is scarce and expensive, while spatial planning policies aim to curb urban sprawl and limit land use. At the same time, issues such as holiday homes and second homes, along with sustainable construction, continue to fuel public debate.
Explore how people live in Switzerland today, why housing remains in short supply, and what ideas are being discussed for the future of housing.
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With high immigration and not enough new houses and flats being built, Switzerland’s housing shortage is getting worse. Just how severe is the problem?
Zurich: Welcome to the world capital of housing shortages!
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In Zurich, only seven out of 10,000 apartments are vacant on average – the lowest rate in Switzerland and probably in the Western world.
Locals driven out by luxury homes in Swiss mountains
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Rising property prices in Pontresina, a municipality next to the exclusive resort of St Moritz, are forcing residents to leave the valley.
Cooperative living: a hip alternative for the Swiss
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For residents of the Hunziker housing cooperative outside Zurich, sharing space and resources is more than efficiency – it is about community.
Renters who land a publicly owned flat in Zurich hit the jackpot
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Thousands of residents benefit from Zurich’s low-cost municipal housing. But not all tenants actually meet the city’s eligibility criteria.
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Despite the legal difficulties in Switzerland, one occasionally comes across a tiny house next to a farm, on wasteland or even in the city.
Inspired by China, a Swiss architect builds tiny houses
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Swiss architect Donat Kamber built small, vertical houses in Switzerland, similar to those he found in China. Does it amount to a trend?
Locals driven out by luxury homes in Swiss mountains
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Rising property prices in Pontresina, a municipality next to the exclusive resort of St Moritz, are forcing residents to leave the valley.
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More than a quarter of the Swiss population now lives regularly in more than one place, reflecting the adoption of a more “nomadic” lifestyle.
