The left-wing majority in the Zurich city parliament decided on Wednesday that middle classes should also have the right to affordable housing.
Living in the city of Zurich is expensive. – keystone
The middle class should also be allowed to live in affordable apartments: this was decided by the left-wing majority in the Zurich city parliament in the first reading on Wednesday.
She removed the income limit from the new occupancy regulations, which will apply to those new apartments that are built with higher occupancy.
The Green Finance Director Daniel Leupi was clearly at a loss. “I don’t know what red-green is doing here,” he said. “Without an income limit, we cannot create apartments for those who really need them.” The aim of the entire regulation is missed.
Opponents and supporters
The GLP, EVP and FDP were of the same opinion. “We need a regulation with a narrow definition, otherwise those in need have no chance,” said Nicolas Cavalli (GLP). However, the SP, Greens and AL prevailed and removed the limits from the new regulation.
Marco Denoth is co-party president of the Zurich SP. – Zurich city
“The middle class no longer has any leeway on the housing market and suffers from high rents,” said Marco Denoth (SP), explaining the abolition of the income limit.
The affordable housing should be available to the entire population, not just those in need. “No one should be forced to finance the excessive returns of real estate companies.”
Occupancy regulations and the super rich
The left-wing council majority does not believe that the super-rich are now moving into cheap apartments. Finally, there are also occupancy regulations.
These state that the number of residents must be at least equal to the number of rooms minus 1.
If you live alone, you can only move into a two-room apartment. Three-room apartments are only available for two or more people. “Roger Federer will definitely not move into such an apartment with his family,” Denoth continued.
Further action and referendum
The proposal will now go to the editorial committee and will come back to the council in about four weeks. Because of the eliminated income limits, the citizens are considering the referendum. It is therefore likely that the regulation will still come before the people.
The trigger for the new regulations was a cantonal vote in 2014. At that time, voters said yes to a change to the planning and building law that was intended to create more affordable housing.
Legal foundations and criticism
This change in the law allows cities and municipalities to require a minimum proportion of affordable housing in construction projects – even if the investors are private.
The city of Zurich was the first city in the canton to announce that it would apply this new paragraph 49b.
This also includes controls, such as occupancy regulations. These controls are the main reason why the SVP rejects the entire regulation.
That would only further inflate the administration. In addition, private investors would be deterred from building housing. For Jean-Marc Jung, the regulation is therefore “another construction brake”.
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2024-01-10 20:37:32
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