immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Bewilligungsverfahren

  • Federal Council wants to accelerate residential construction

    Federal Council wants to accelerate residential construction

    According to its communication, the Federal Council is examining measures to accelerate residential construction. With its report of 22 April 2026, it is responding to five postulates from the National Council and Council of States. It is part of the federal government’s housing shortage action plan. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications to submit a consultation draft by the end of 2026.

    One of these measures should create the legal basis for a national interest in housing construction. Such a legal basis would then take precedence over, for example, the protection of the townscape or listed buildings. The Federal Council is also having the restriction of the right of appeal for private individuals and the admissible complaints examined. In addition, the procedural costs for objections that are proven to be an abuse of rights could be imposed on the objectors, namely if the objection is clearly aimed solely at preventing or delaying a project.

    However, the sovereignty for planning and building authorisation procedures lies with the cantons. The Federal Council can therefore only recommend that they introduce a digital authorisation procedure and set binding deadlines in order to speed up the process. The Federal Council also recommends that planning applications should only be published once they are complete. It also points out that many licensing authorities do not have sufficient staff or expertise to process complex dossiers.

  • Switzerland needs faster approval procedures

    Switzerland needs faster approval procedures

    The housing shortage in Switzerland continues to worsen. Although construction activity has increased slightly compared to previous years, the pace is not sufficient to meet the rising demand. Forecasts show that only 42,000 new apartments will be built in 2025, around 20 percent less than would be necessary to ensure a stable supply. In view of strong immigration, growing domestic demand and low vacancy rates in urban regions, this will lead to noticeably rising rents and growing pressure on the housing market.

    BWO study reveals problems
    On July 1, 2025, the Federal Office for Housing published a comprehensive study on the causes of long planning and approval procedures and the increasing number of objections. The results clearly show that the procedures are often too complex, too lengthy and prone to delays due to objections, which are not always in the public interest. At the same time, the study also shows that there are ways to speed up procedures without undermining environmental or monument protection. It thus confirms what the SBC has been emphasizing for years: the bottlenecks in residential construction cannot be resolved without legal adjustments.

    SBCcalls for decisive action
    The SBC sees the results of the BWO study as a clear mandate for politicians. Now is the time to tackle reforms consistently and thus trigger investment. Developers and investors need planning and legal certainty in order to implement projects and bring urgently needed living space onto the market. “Time is of the essence. We must act now to stem the housing shortage,” says the association.

    Specifically, the SBC is advocating the following measures

    1. Faster planning and approval procedures
    Acceleration and streamlining of processes at cantonal and municipal level.
    Restriction of objections to vested interests worthy of protection.
    Curbing abusive objections, for example through procedural costs or liability for damages in the event of delays.

    2. Adapted spatial planning principles
    Increasing the utilization figures, for example by adding additional storeys.
    Reduction of boundary distances in order to use existing areas more efficiently.
    Creation of additional mixed zones for living and working in order to promote lively neighborhoods.

    3. Fair balancing of interests between residential construction and monument protection
    Balanced weighting of housing requirements and protection interests.
    Direct application of ISOS (inventory of Swiss sites worthy of protection) only in federal procedures directly related to the protection of the townscape.
    Early clarification of the trade-off between monument protection and densification in the structure plan and in building and zoning regulations.

    Political support available
    There are various initiatives in the national parliament that address precisely these points. They enjoy broad support across party lines. The SBC therefore calls for this work to be quickly translated into concrete legislative changes. This is the only way to simplify procedures, eliminate legal uncertainties and resolve blockages.

    Housing construction as a task for society as a whole
    The creation of sufficient living space is not just a task for the construction industry, but a challenge for society as a whole. Cities and municipalities need reliable instruments to meet demand without losing valuable time in lengthy procedures. At the same time, it is important to maintain a balance between high-density construction, ecological requirements and the protection of local landscapes.

    The BWO study gets to the heart of the matter. Switzerland needs structural reforms so that living space can be created more quickly again. The SBC welcomes the clear findings and calls for politicians and the administration to take responsibility now. Without reforms, the housing shortage threatens to increase further in the coming years, with all the negative consequences for tenants, families and the competitiveness of Switzerland as a business location.

  • AIHK submits building application for its new construction project

    AIHK submits building application for its new construction project

    With the building application to the city of Aarau at the end of September, the new building project of the Aargau Chamber of Commerce and Industry(AIHK) has reached an important milestone, according to an article in the magazine “Impulse” published by the AIHK. Depending on the building permit, construction work is expected to start at the beginning of 2025, the article continues. The building permit for the new Haus der Wirtschaft was handed over by AIHK President Beat Bechtold to City President Hanspeter Hilfiker and City Clerk Fabian Humbel in front of Aarau City Hall, the report says.

    The AIHK project team had already been in contact with various city officials beforehand, the report continues. For example, the city architect and the city image commission were consulted when it came to realising a building project that was as broadly supported as possible.

    The approval process starts with the building application. Demolition is planned for the end of 2024. The new building is expected to be ready for occupation in the third quarter of 2026.

    On the one hand, the new facilities in the new Haus der Wirtschaft will enable more professional courses and events to be held, the report in “Impulse” continues. On the other hand, the new building stands for the progressive digitalisation and modernisation that has been taking place at the association for several years.

  • National Council decides on offensive for wind energy

    National Council decides on offensive for wind energy

    The National Council has joined the amendments of the Council of States and followed it with regard to the bill on the accelerated approval of wind power plants by 136 votes to 53. Originally, this bill came from the National Council’s Committee for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy. The background to this is the goal of making Switzerland less dependent on electricity imports in times of low sunshine.

    According to a parliamentary press release, energy minister Albert Rösti (SVP) said that an increase in capacity was therefore necessary. However, this would have to be realised “without severely eroding the usual rights of co-determination”. According to the information, there was fundamental opposition to the wind power offensive in parliament only on the part of the SVP. The other parliamentary groups agree that wind energy makes a valuable contribution to the electricity supply in the winter months.

    Therefore, the tenor was that it was unacceptable that projects had to wait more than 20 years for approval. The bill stipulates that the accelerated procedures may only be applied if the municipalities have already approved the installation as part of the land-use planning. According to Rösti, this applies to 39 turbines that are to supply 250 gigawatt hours of electricity annually. These include the Grenchenberg wind farm in the canton of Solothurn, the Eoljorat Sud and Sur Grati projects in the canton of Vaud and the Crêt Neuron project in the canton of Neuchâtel.

    The accelerated procedures are to be applied to wind energy projects in the national interest until an additional capacity of 600 megawatts has been installed. For these projects, the canton will now be responsible for the building permit. In addition, the legal remedies against this decision will be limited: it will only be possible to challenge it before the highest cantonal court.