Strict Tenant Protection Slows Housing Construction in Basel

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Property owners in Basel are grappling with a significant amount of paperwork for their construction projects. For larger projects involving ten apartments, industry representatives estimate that around 1800 pages of forms need to be filled out. Even smaller projects by private homeowners involve a considerable amount of paperwork, making the renovation process a veritable paper war. According to HEV Managing Director ZappalĂ , the procedures are not only time-consuming but also nearly impossible to complete correctly without professional help. The commission also takes a considerable amount of time to make decisions, with property owners often waiting for a year or more for building permits. On average, a review takes about two months.

From the perspective of the Tenants’ Association, everything is going according to plan. Beat Leuthardt, former president of the Basel Tenants’ Association and driving force behind the housing protection initiatives in Basel, says that large, profit-oriented investors are currently holding back. This shows that Basel’s housing protection is proving its worth. The focus is on protecting long-term tenants from unjustified renovations or even mass evictions. The population does not want “growth at any cost”. If at all, they prefer moderate growth with gentle renovations to an “upgrade” of the apartments.

Leuthardt is not worried that strict tenant protection will reduce the housing supply in the medium term and thus drive up rents. The aim of housing protection is not to prevent rent increases, but rather to preserve living conditions in all districts.

With rent caps and controls, the left wants to prevent tenants from being pushed out of their familiar surroundings. In Basel, the consequences of this policy are becoming apparent: renovations are largely absent, and the housing supply is becoming increasingly scarce. Jacqueline Badran, SP National Councillor, believes that this must finally stop. Every week in Zurich, tenants of another settlement receive the termination letter because real estate corporations could demand double if they “luxury renovate” and re-rent the apartments.

Badran already knows the recipe so that tenants in Zurich are no longer displaced from their familiar surroundings: Together with the cantonal Tenants’ Association, the SP launched a popular initiative in the summer that wants to subject renovations and conversions in Zurich to a special permit requirement. It is planned that the municipalities can also link the permit with upper limits for the rents.

The effects of rigid tenant protection are already noticeable after a short time. The investors are on the brakes: “In 2024, significantly fewer new apartments are expected to come onto the market,” predicted Beat Jans, President of the Basel-Stadt Cantonal Government, recently to the Parliament. While the number of apartments has grown by over 1000 in the past and current year, significantly fewer apartments are expected to come onto the market next year. Only 300 more apartments currently have a building permit. It is mainly large investors who have been active on the Basel real estate market until recently who are now withdrawing, says Lukas Ott, head of cantonal and urban development. However, it is difficult to estimate to what extent this is due to housing protection.

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