Swiss Life boss: Building more is the best way to combat the housing shortage
Published: Sunday, Oct 6th 2024, 04:00
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According to Swiss Life CEO Matthias Aellig, building more is the best way to combat the housing shortage. In an interview with the Sonntagszeitung newspaper, he emphasized that slow building permit procedures often delay projects.
"We are still building and are happy to put apartments on the market, because building more is the best way to combat the housing shortage. But you also have to give us a break," said the life insurer's CEO, who has been in office since mid-May. "In some cases, the building permit procedures are preventing or delaying our projects."
According to Aellig, Swiss Life is focusing on densification in refurbishments, whereby additional apartments are created. According to the report, around three quarters of tenants remain in their apartments during renovations.
With regard to rising rents following renovations, Aellig was skeptical of initiatives aimed at preventing price increases. "In Geneva, this has led to the real estate market becoming outdated," said the physicist, who was born in 1971.
Focus on metropolitan areas
Despite the housing shortage and rising rents, the insurance group feels primarily committed to its customers: "Our duty is to generate market-compliant income with our apartments for our policyholders," said Aellig. This is why the company invests in different segments and apartment sizes.
Around 80 percent of Swiss Life real estate and construction projects are located in the greater Zurich, Geneva and northwestern Switzerland areas. "We are where the economic activity takes place and where demand is greatest."
In Switzerland, the life insurer Swiss Life is one of the largest private residential landlords. It has almost 40,000 apartments. According to the CEO, a good CHF 85 billion of the total of around CHF 256 billion in assets under management are invested in real estate.
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