The scarcity of living space in many cities has prompted a tenant association to propose limiting the living space per person, which could force families with large apartments to move out. According to Matthias Günther, head of the Pestel Institute, there is currently a shortage of around 700,000 apartments in Germany. The situation is similar in many other countries, including Switzerland, where an estimated 50,000 apartments are currently missing. The tenant association is calling for a restriction on living space per person in response to the ongoing development. Private landlords in Switzerland are not yet subject to this obligation. The proposal states that the number of rooms minus one should correspond to the minimum occupancy of an apartment. A single household would therefore be allowed to rent a maximum of a two-room apartment, and a family of four a maximum of a five-room apartment.
The tenant association believes that these measures would lead to an optimal occupancy of living space. In addition, it can be combined with other measures. To simplify moves, the association is calling for tenants to be able to exchange their apartments under identical contract conditions. It is becoming increasingly problematic that singles or couples are preferred over families in the search for apartments. This leads to the paradoxical situation that large apartments, which were actually designed for families and urgently needed by them, are increasingly being rented to individuals or couples. Critics of the controversial demands, such as Mid-National Councilor Philipp Matthias Bregy, see it as a massive restriction on property rights.
Bregy believes that these measures would not alleviate the housing shortage. Instead, he sees the solution in making construction projects easier. The situation is becoming increasingly difficult for interested parties in many large and medium-sized cities, where suitable rental apartments are becoming increasingly scarce. The tenant association’s proposal is intended to counteract this development, but it remains to be seen whether it will be implemented.
