First Read: Swiss Real Estate "Expert Call on potential tightening of Le..."

Research evidence excerpt

First Read: Swiss Real Estate "Expert Call on potential tightening of Le..."

Global Research

13 May 2026ab

First Read

EquitiesSwiss Real Estate

Expert Call on potential tightening of Lex Koller Switzerland

Real Estate

Tommaso Operto, CFA

Potential implications still highly uncertain, but unlikely to come into effect Analyst

before 2028. tommaso.operto@ubs.com

We hosted David Schoch, from CBRE Switzerland, to learn about implications of +41-44-239 2049

ongoing discussions around potential tightening of Lex Koller (replay available upon Charles Boissier, CFA

request). Lex Koller restricts foreign participation in Swiss real estate, notably barring Analyst

foreign investors from Swiss residential property, and the current debate centres on charles.boissier@ubs.com

whether to re-tighten the regime after the 2008 easing. While foreign ownership in +44-20-7568 4415

commercial real estate remains limited according to the expert (roughly 3–5%), foreign

investors are still active in transactions (c. CHF 500m of purchases versus c. CHF 900m of

sales per annum), with exposure concentrated in offices (about half), followed by retail

and hotels (each around 20–25%) and a small industrial share. According to the expert,

any material legislative change is unlikely before 2028 given the length and uncertainty

of the political process. Impact would likely be strongest in Hotel though according to

the expect, given the relatively smaller market size compared to office.

Some interdependencies with other upcoming initiatives

In parallel, the “sustainability initiative” (vote on 14 June) proposes a population cap of

10 million (versus c. 9.1 million today) launched by the right-wing conservative party

SVP. There is no formal or technical linkage between the sustainability vote and Lex