Property in Switzerland
Considering the numerous changes in property regulations, we felt that it would be helpful to provide a short summary of what rules are now being applied.
Lets begin with a brief review of the basic Swiss property laws and regulations.
LAT
"law regarding building and urbanisation of the Swiss territory"-
Aims to preserve the Swiss land and nature by restricting building within specific zones.
-
Aims to concentrate the densification of already populated areas. « Urbanisation »
Lex Weber (2014)
"the Lex Weber law affects everyone"-
All regions are limited to a maximum of 20% secondary homes.
-
Any region with a higher % may only construct Primary (R 1) homes in so far as they are located in the correct zones.
-
Secondary homes may be increased by 30% in so far as they have the available density coefficiency.
-
Verbier and its region known as Bagnes currently counts 58.4% secondary homes (R 2) and 41.6 % primary residences (R 1)
LFAIE - Lex Koller 2012
"The Lex Koller law affects foreign buyers without residency permits and has multiple layers"-
states that foreigners may purchase a secondary property only in Touristic Zones such as Ski Resorts and some Lakeside Resorts, one of which is Verbier (unlike Le Chable or Vollèges that are outside the « zone »)
-
limits land purchase to 1000m2
-
limits habitable surface property to 200m2
-
limits ownership to ONE Swiss property only
-
must apply and receive autorisation to purchase