Swiss gov’t earmarks 900 million for affordable housing

The National Council has set out to increase the Fonds de Roulement to 900 million francs for 2030 to 2034. The additional funds for the construction of public welfare housing have passed by a vote of 129 to 62. 

Too few funds for new housing projects?

The added financial resources will grant loans for new construction, renovation and acquisition to residential developers. Funds are also dedicated to supporting new projects in social housing. For this, a mandatory credit of 1,92 billion francs was accepted with 130 to 62 votes.

Parties and councillors on the left spectrum had wished for more money to be allocated. Jacqueline Badran (SP) submitted a request for increasing the financial input to 300 million francs. Franziska Ryser (Greens) also wanted to further allocate money to the guarantee cooperatives of Switzerland with 2,3 billion francs.

Article 41 of the Swiss constitution expects the government and councils to take responsibility and initiative in ensuring residents of Switzerland have access to housing under appropriate conditions. According to SRF, the opposition argued that this article calls for an expansion of housing offers, whereas the allocated funds do not ensure what is expected under the constitution. Member of the National Council, Phillip Matthias Bregy (The Centre), rejects the proposal, saying there is no need for further support.

SVP called for a delayed vote

The new policy also fueled the recurring debate on limiting "mass" immigration to Switzerland, as addressed frequently by conservative and right-leaning parties.  The SVP had requested to delay the vote on additional funds until after their initiative to counter immigration had been discussed.

The “No 10-Million-Switzerland” (Keine 10-Millionen-Schweiz) will be voted on in June, and if passed, would aim to restrict the population in Switzerland to 10 million people. The SVP claimed that new funds for affordable housing would be incentives for what they call "uncontrolled immigration".

Christian Hilber, an expert on housing from the University of Zurich, told SRF that while immigration influences the housing market, incomes are much more relevant. The revision of the space planning law (Raumplanungsgesetz) from 2014 has caused higher demands in housing, leading to greater flexibility for owners to change and raise home and rent prices.