National report on housing inequalities – Switzerland

An extract from Deliverable 2.1 “Contextualized analysis of the housing situation – Papers on (sub)national trends”

Switzerland has the lowest rate of homeownership in Europe with 62% of the households renting their dwelling. Social housing plays a marginal role in Switzerland, with only 5% of households living in a subsidised or non-profit unit. Since 2000, rents have increased by 30% and house prices have almost doubled. Accordingly, homeownership is increasingly unaffordable for lower- and middle-income people. Housing costs are perceived as a heavy burden by 25%. There are significant inequalities between homeowners and tenants: in 2020, the share of housing costs in disposable income for homeowners was only 17.4%, but it amounted to more than 30% for tenants. Housing inequalities also exist across household types, with single-parent and one-person households spending 30-35% of their disposable income on housing. Territorial inequalities exist between urban and rural areas, with households living in densely populated areas showing 10% higher housing costs than those in thinly populated areas.