Prizes criticized: Why do so many politicians live in co-ops?

Anyone who lives in cooperation is happy. There are no returns and the price is accordingly low. Just last week, the Federal Housing Office published new figures. Co-ops and apartments with communities are 8 to 20 percent cheaper. A four-room apartment costs an average of 1,359 francs, outside non-profit housing it is 1,647 francs.

Those who live in the Zurich cooperative are even happier. In the city where people are looking for accommodation, competition is fierce, rents are much higher and frustration with unclear award criteria is often very good.

The figures compiled by the Young Liberals of the city of Zurich are even more surprising. They tried to prove the live arrangement of the Zurich city council in detailed work over a period of two months.

The “NZZ am Sonntag” was able to look at the random schedule. The numbers should be viewed with caution. Only 85 percent of council members are registered, and the distribution by party is not set in stone.

Some trends are still visible. The proportion of non-profit housing forms across the entire city council is already relatively high at almost 40 per cent. It seems to be higher among left-wing parties. According to the study, more than 40 percent of the identified SP parliamentarians live in a cooperative, and an additional 18 percent live in an apartment in the city of Zurich. The same picture can be seen with the Greens.

For comparison: of the total population of Zurich, only 20 percent live in a cooperative and 7.4 percent in an apartment in the city.

The record also reveals interesting things on the other side of politics. That around 40 percent of SVP MPs live in their own property. Or even among the FDP and SVP the proportion of cooperative members is 12 and 16 percent.

Open to only a few instead of everyone?

The opinion of Oguz Bayindir, President of the Young Liberals of Zurich, is given: “It is surprising that, compared to the population, most politicians are on the left, some of them at have well-paid jobs, live in subsidized apartments. .” The cooperatives guarantee social mix, and non-profit housing supported by the general public should be allocated according to transparent criteria, says Bayindir. “Instead, we’re seeing that some customers seem to have a head start when they apply.”

For urban apartments, a random generator determines 70 people who are allowed to see an apartment. The award decision is then made based on order criteria and “according to the principle of dual control,” as the city writes. People with higher incomes are allowed to make up 15 percent of tenants.

Cooperatives, on the other hand, are privately organized and are allowed to manage awards themselves. Since they are at least indirectly supported through lower land taxes, interest-free loans, depreciation grants and instruments such as the Zurich housing fund, real estate economist Marco Salvi takes a critical view of the matter: “There many who would deserve it do not. get a flat Many of those who live there don’t need it at all.”

The timing of going to the media with the numbers is no coincidence. In two weeks, the city of Zurich will vote on hundreds of millions of francs in funding for non-profit housing. The SP says the Young Liberals’ figures show “many errors”. However, this cannot be systematically checked because we do not collect residential data from our own members, according to the group’s director Lisa Diggelmann.

At the same time, she also says: “In Zurich, 130,000 people live in cooperatives or in a city that is rented out at a cost. I wouldn’t be surprised if about half of the 37-member SP parliamentary group lived in such an apartment.”

She herself was already involved in the Zurich housing cooperation board before she ran for the SP local council to campaign for the creation of more affordable housing in Zurich. “I wanted to join the SP because the party has been campaigning for years to ensure that the people no longer have to pay exorbitant fees from real estate companies.”

Interventionists in administration and politics do not believe that politicians can increase the chances of getting an apartment just because of their office. Nevertheless, several people talk about a type of network that could help. You know when and where an apartment is available, or you are part of a special category. Sometimes this is explained by the fact that some cooperatives give preference to the children of existing tenants.

The low level of foreigners is a systemic problem that the cooperatives also acknowledge. In Zurich cooperatives it is 20 percent, and the proportion of foreigners in the population is 34 percent.

The Association denies any irregularity

The Zurich housing debate may be just another episode, but it certainly points to a larger problem. The transparency debate is becoming more urgent as unprofitable housing is expected to grow rapidly. The Swiss Association of Non-Profit Housing Developers manages a large part of federal funds that provide low-interest loans to cooperatives. This year they will receive fifty loans worth more than 80 million francs – twice as much as the average in recent years.

Cities like Zurich and Lucerne have set themselves strict growth targets in unprofitable housing construction. And where co-operatives are becoming important in the housing market, a debate about award criteria is also starting. The association of non-profit housing developers is defending itself against the charge of arbitrary implementation: “The cooperatives are guided by clear criteria,” says deputy director Rebecca Omoregie.

Nevertheless: society now wants to create more transparency. “We need to better define the target groups that the cooperatives are targeting and how the flats are advertised,” said Omoregie. To do this, a project is to be started that will give recommendations to those who looking for accommodation. “It should be even clearer how the rental processes work.”

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