Federal Council wants to tighten Lex Koller
The consultation process for the law aimed at making it more difficult for foreigners to buy apartments has begun. The law is particularly controversial for the real estate industry because it also targets funds and commercial properties.
As the Federal Council announced yesterday, the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad - the so-called Lex Koller - is to be tightened up. The corresponding consultation has been opened and will run until July 15. Among other things, the Federal Council wants to make the purchase of apartments by third-country nationals subject to a permit and restrict the purchase of vacation homes by people abroad - by reducing the cantons' annual permit quotas and also making the resale to people abroad subject to a corresponding permit.
Two further details of the proposed legislation published yesterday are particularly controversial for the Swiss real estate industry: On the one hand, stricter rules are to apply to people from abroad if they wish to purchase commercial real estate. It will no longer be possible to buy commercial properties if they want to rent or lease them out. On the other hand, persons abroad are to be prohibited from acquiring listed shares in residential real estate companies and shares in real estate funds and real estate SICAVs that are regularly traded on the market. Legal experts believe it is possible that these last two measures will ultimately mean that the stricter Lex Koller will apply to investments in all Swiss real estate funds and other real estate companies.
The proposed amendments to Lex Koller are part of the accompanying measures decided by the Federal Council in connection with the rejection of the popular initiative «No 10 million Swiss». In an explanatory report on the tightening of Lex Koller, which was published on April 15, the Federal Council refers, among other things, to a regulatory impact assessment of the proposed legislation by the externally commissioned expert Fahrländer Partner. This came to the conclusion that a tightening of the Lex Koller would not only not be helpful in relieving the Swiss housing market, but would rather exacerbate the problems - particularly in the case of large-scale projects. The Federal Council expressly «acknowledges» this assessment, but considers the tightening of the Lex Koller to be «nevertheless necessary». (aw)
