The number of housing units available for rent or purchase has decreased in Geneva from 0.51% to 0.37% in one year (vacancy rate), despite the record number of housing units built. It has reached its lowest level since 2013. Landlords will take advantage of this to further increase the pressure on tenants. All categories of the population are concerned, even if the consequences are not the same depending on income and residence status.
Rent is the first item of household expenditure. It represents approximately 20% of gross income, 25% for households whose salary is between 4,000 and 6,000 francs per month. For the working classes, this percentage is much higher: 12.8% of the population devotes 40% of its budget to housing. For the 38% of low-income households, it even exceeds this percentage.
The upward spiral in rents is the result of the weight that the real estate community places on federal policy and on tenants, especially during the conclusion of the lease where the largest rent increases take place.
A Raiffeisen study quantifies this gap between old and new rents: “the marked increase in proposed and effective rents has widened the gap with existing rents over time. Despite the strong rapprochement in recent years, the gap remains significant. For reference housing […] (4 rooms, 100 m2, built in 2011, the proposed rent is about 300 francs more expensive than the existing rent. In 2015, this difference amounted to almost 600 francs.»
To prevent tenants from contesting these increases, landlords have found parades, such as the conclusion of fixed-term leases or the use of apartment hunters.
The latter impose illicit contracts prohibiting consultation of the Asloca or the assertion of its rights. They and they actually serve the interests of landlords by selecting the “good” tenants and avoiding the risks of procedures. Few tenants contest their initial rents in this way. In 2021, out of 25,331 lease cases settled, 1,259 concerned such a dispute.
Increasing the number of dwellings is necessary to meet the needs of the population, but it is not enough. Technically simple measures exist to loosen the vice, such as extending the rent control system, which already exists in the LDTR in Geneva and the LPPPL in the canton of Vaud, to all new leases in times of shortage. Even simpler: establish a tenant’s right to transfer the lease of his apartment, as is already the case for commercial premises.
Most of the rented accommodation in the Lake Geneva basin is intended for performance. It is therefore irrelevant to the owners who pays the rent, as long as the financial guarantees are the same. This measure would avoid large rent increases when changing tenants.
These proposals are unsurprisingly opposed by the political majorities in the cantonal and federal parliaments. The solution to the housing crisis cannot therefore rest exclusively on a change in economic policy or on holding the employees of multinationals responsible for the crisis. Measures must be taken to limit the excessive profits that donors impose on the entire population.
Christian Dandrès is a national adviser and jurist at Asloca. The author speaks here in a personal capacity.