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Affordable primary residences

May 31, 2022
Second homes notwithstanding, the municipality of Zermatt/CH wants to secure affordable housing for the local population.
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(c) creative commons

Zermatt/CH is a popular tourist destination and has a high proportion of second homes. Housing prices for primary residences are rising, and many can no longer stay in the region due to rental costs. To break this negative dynamic, the municipality of Zermatt/CH took regulatory measures to strengthen the construction of primary residences and to protect the conversion of existing ones into secondary residences. Complementing this, the neighbouring Swiss municipalities of Zermatt, Täsch and Randa joined forces in the "Model Project for Sustainable Spatial Development 2014-2018" and founded a regional cooperative to improve the supply of affordable housing in the inner Mattertal/CH. They managed existing properties to preserve primary residences and activated additional affordable housing. According to the rental regulations, only households with limited incomes were to benefit, provided they had their main residence in the inner Mattertal/CH and also worked there.

More information: www.are.admin.ch/dam/are/de/dokumente/raumplanung/dokumente/bericht/wirkungsanalyse-zwg-grundlagenbericht-gute-beispiele.pdf.download.pdf/wirkungsanalyse-zwg-grundlagenbericht-gute-beispiele.pdf (de), www.are.admin.ch/dam/are/de/dokumente/raumplanung/dokumente/bericht/wirkungsanalyse-zwg-vertiefungsanalyse-flaeche-landschaft.pdf.download.pdf/wirkungsanalyse-zwg-vertiefungsanalyse-flaeche-landschaft.pdf (fr), gemeinde.zermatt.ch/bauabteilung (de)

Fact sheet

What: Housing cooperative, affordable primary residences, second homes

Who: Municipalities of Zermatt/CH, Täsch/CH and Randa/CH (dropped out of the project in 2018)

Where: Zermatt, Switzerland

When: 2014-2018

Transferability: The activities at regulatory and participatory level can also be implemented in other Swiss municipalities. Legal requirements elsewhere vary.

Project

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