As a ex-pat married to a swiss citzen I have had the possiabilty to look at the housing situation in Geneva through the eyes of a swiss citzen, the one thing that stands out the most is the drastic hike in rent in the area, in 2003 a 3 pc appt in geneva would not cost more then 1100 a mounth, now you are lucky if you can find one for under 2000 a mounth, I know swiss people that are forced to live in their cars due to the fact that they simply can not afford to live in their own city, the goverment is to busy making money off the other ex pats to really care about their own citizens, a lot of swiss want the goverment to start regulating the number of ex pats that come in to the country, I think this is a bad idea, in my opinion the goverment needs to step up and start regulating the rents in the area, set limits depending on the size of a house, stop the act of letting large multi national companies renting entire buldings and letting them sit empty for years at a time while they wait for people to come to the country, land lords have caught on to the idea that a multi national company will help if not pay the rent for their employiees, so they try to put the same price on the avrage swiss person, the fact is a normal swiss citizen does not make the amount of money to pay such high rents.
As a ex-pat married to a swiss citzen I have had the possiabilty to look at the housing situation in Geneva through the eyes of a swiss citzen, the one thing that stands out the most is the drastic hike in rent in the area, in 2003 a 3 pc appt in geneva would not cost more then 1100 a mounth, now you are lucky if you can find one for under 2000 a mounth, I know swiss people that are forced to live in their cars due to the fact that they simply can not afford to live in their own city, the goverment is to busy making money off the other ex pats to really care about their own citizens, a lot of swiss want the goverment to start regulating the number of ex pats that come in to the country, I think this is a bad idea, in my opinion the goverment needs to step up and start regulating the rents in the area, set limits depending on the size of a house, stop the act of letting large multi national companies renting entire buldings and letting them sit empty for years at a time while they wait for people to come to the country, land lords have caught on to the idea that a multi national company will help if not pay the rent for their employiees, so they try to put the same price on the avrage swiss person, the fact is a normal swiss citizen does not make the amount of money to pay such high rents.
Steven RomigJan 18, 2012 @ 21:24
That is only the tip of the iceberg 
Well, that still wouldn't solve the shortage of available housing stock, wouldn't it? If you're boxed in on 3 sides, there isn't much room to grow except up (as in 'skyward') or across the border. Similar situation in NYC, and a s**t load of regulations didn't keep rents from going through the roof there either.
Well, that still wouldn't solve the shortage of available housing stock, wouldn't it? If you're boxed in on 3 sides, there isn't much room to grow except up (as in 'skyward') or across the border. Similar situation in NYC, and a s**t load of regulations didn't keep rents from going through the roof there either.
rmike, Jan 19, 2012 @ 00:15
The point is, there is no shortage of housing here, it is the prices that people put on them, like I said most swiss people working normal jobs just cant afford them, as I also posted their are swiss people that HAVE to live in their cars, no one is saying it is the expats fault, it is the goverments fault for not regulating the prices placed on the housing by landlords, swiss law says that in between tenant contracts the price of the house can not be raised by more than 5%, but you have landlords hiking the prices up from 17 to 20% more.
The point is, there is no shortage of housing here, it is the prices that people put on them, like I said most swiss people working normal jobs just cant afford them, as I also posted their are swiss people that HAVE to live in their cars, no one is saying it is the expats fault, it is the goverments fault for not regulating the prices placed on the housing by landlords, swiss law says that in between tenant contracts the price of the house can not be raised by more than 5%, but you have landlords hiking the prices up from 17 to 20% more.
Steven Romig, Jan 19, 2012 @ 00:24
Vacancy rate for residental property in GE in 2010: 0.25%; same in Manhattan for 2011: 1.08%. Both numbers seem to indicate a healthy demand w/o much in the way of additional supply.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that the housing situation has been, for lack of a better word, atrocious for way to long, but I don't see how rent control will change anything. Unless you're in the market for a nativist solution, which I don't think will fly politically.
Mike
Vacancy rate for residental property in GE in 2010: 0.25%; same in Manhattan for 2011: 1.08%. Both numbers seem to indicate a healthy demand w/o much in the way of additional supply.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that the housing situation has been, for lack of a better word, atrocious for way to long, but I don't see how rent control will change anything. Unless you're in the market for a nativist solution, which I don't think will fly politically.
Mike
rmike, Jan 19, 2012 @ 01:01
