(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Thousands of residents benefit from Zurich's low-cost municipal housing. But not all tenants actually meet the city's eligibility criteria. Zurich now wants to crack down on this while sparing large sections of the population. This content was published on October 26, 2025 - 10:00 11 minutes

I write about demographic developments, societal trends and debates in Switzerland. I joined SWI swissinfo after 15 years at a local newspaper in Zurich.

• More from this aut
• German Departm

• Deutsch de Süsse Privilegien: Zürichs grosse Räumung, die keine ist Original Read more: Süsse Privilegien: Zürichs grosse Räumung, die kein

A newly built four-and-a-half room flat in a central location for a bargain CHF1,860 ($2,332): in the overheated Zurich rental market, it sounds like a fake advertisement.

Yet this offer was placed not by a fraudster, but the city of Zurich itself. The apartment in question is located in the new Hardau 1 housing estate, which the city is offering at cost – what's known as“cost-based rent” or rent to cover costs.

These low rents are possible because the city bought up the land in the 1960s and can price the units based on the purchase price at the time.

Land is the great inflator of prices in Zurich. Since the mid-1970s, the price of a square metreExternal link of land has increased twelvefold.

On the open market, such an apartment would cost three times the rent being asked for at Hardau 1. Over a period of 25 years, tenants in a municipal apartment can save CHF1 million – or CHF1.5 million, if calculated on the basis of a moderate interest rate.

The demand for these apartments is therefore high. So is the envy felt by those who don't meet the eligibility criteria and who wonder if it is always the right people who benefit from this scheme.

The housing shortage in Zurich is serious, even in comparison with the world's largest metropolises:

More More Demographics Zurich: Welcome to the world capital of housing shortages!

This content was published on Apr 21, 2025 In Zurich, only seven out of 10,000 apartments are vacant on average – the lowest rate in Switzerland and probably in the Western world.

Read more: Zurich: Welcome to the world capital of housing short

MENAFN26102025000210011054ID1110249459