The observation is striking. Is Switzerland in the grip of a multi-faceted challenge? While the average number of households is shrinking, the demand for housing is expanding like never before.
The duality is present and reflects with it the risk of a housing shortage in Switzerland, or at least a reinforcement of it.
Add to this the effects of demographic ageing and individualization, and it’s easy to see the beginnings of a new fragmentation of the population… and its future consequences.
The process of individualization is defined as the capacity of the individual to become master of his or her own choices, regardless of the moral or social prerogatives he or she believes he or she is replacing. Example: the preservation of one’s household.
Individualization: a fad or a trend?
Life expectancy is on the rise. Good news!
This is reshaping societal thinking and lifestyle habits.
Yes, the Swiss prefer to live alone. This is due to the growing number of separations and divorces, which are responsible for the reduction in the average household size. But that’s not all, single-family homes on the rise. L’OFS confirms it :
- Young adults of housing age,
- People who are in a relationship, but don’t want to settle down,
- The relay apartment phenomenon.
As a result, the number of single-person households in Switzerland is increasing the most.
A striking fact that replaces the phenomenon of immigration on the front line, as underlined by Raiffeisen.
Household fragmentation reshapes the real estate landscape
New rental apartments are getting smaller all the time, or… consider that the game has changed.
Indeed, dwellings are shrinking, as circulation spaces are optimised to meet many residents’ needs. Living spaces are more valuable, from a practical point of view for example, to correlate with telecommuting.
The reduction in average apartment size in Switzerland peaked in 2005. This was due to the high proportion of small apartments in new construction.
Despite densification efforts and the average drop in the number of households, we are witnessing two opposing systems of thought (builders and households). The former optimises the floor, while the latter abandons it in favor of a more practical layout.
Given the low level of construction activity, the risk of a housing shortage in Switzerland is no longer an assumption.
Energy impact at the heart of the home
According to the latest edition of Immo Monitoring, the number of households would rise from 50,000 to 55,000 per year.
In contrast, the increase in the number of housing units in 2023 is estimated at 46,000.
What’s more, as the number of households shrinks, the demand for housing increases.
Problem: We need to reduce the energy impact of households by 2050..
L’EFPL emphasizes the objective of reducing the amount of living space per person. However, the average surface area per inhabitant increased by 36% between 1980 and 2020.
Apartments may be smaller, but they have larger volumes. Between 1980 and 2020, the population grew by 37%, while the total surface area of dwellings increased by 87%.
So optimising space is no answer to the energy challenge.
The many facets of a predicted housing shortage have now been identified. The challenge is to find a compromise between changing behaviors, demographic growth and ecological urgency.
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