Swiss tenants cries foul

The Tenant’s Association on Thursday called on the Swiss to challenge higher rents next year, saying landlords had pocketed billions of Swiss francs in the last ten years by not lowering rents when mortgage rates were cut.

The Tenant’s Association on Thursday called on the Swiss to challenge higher rents next year, saying landlords had pocketed billions of Swiss francs in the last ten years by not lowering rents when mortgage rates were cut.

The association said that, based on its own investigations, tenants paid SFr18.8 billion ($11.8 billion) more to their landlords than would have been justified between 1989 and 1999. Broken down per household, this would mean that the average tenant paid SFr89 ($56) too much each month.

“Most of the landlords in Switzerland have either not, or only partially, passed on the lowering of mortgage rates from 7 to 3.75 percent in the past few years,” Tenants’ Association Vice President Anita Thanei told a news conference in Berne.

Landlords challenged the claims, saying the claims are too undifferentiated and do not give enough consideration to investments that improve the value of rented property and improve the quality of life for the tenant.

Thanei rejected that argument. “If that were true, then all taps in Swiss apartments would be made of gold.”

The association said the added financial pressure on tenants also has a broader economic impact.

The lobby group says rent eats up about 22 percent of the average household budget. Higher rents, therefore, reduce the spending power of families and reduce the money spent on consumer goods.

About 70 percent of people in Switzerland live in rented accommodation.

From staff and wire reports.