Residents of Eastern Switzerland would reduce living space
Nikola Vukovic and Raphael Dietrich analysed the housing market in Eastern Switzerland in their Master's thesis. According to the researchers at the OST - Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, many residents of Eastern Switzerland are willing to downsize their living space. However, there is a lack of small flats.
Nikola Vukovic and Raphael Dietrich have developed options for easing the housing market in Eastern Switzerland in their final thesis for the Master’s degree programme in Real Estate Management at OST – Ostschweizer Fachhochschule. “The Swiss population lives too generously,” Vukovic and Dietrich are quoted as saying in a corresponding OST press release. However, according to the findings of the two researchers, many residents of Eastern Switzerland would be prepared to reduce their living space.
Specifically, 43 per cent of 379 participants in a survey as part of the master’s thesis stated that they could do without living space. A guest room or a hobby room were particularly frequently rated as unnecessary. However, alternatives are needed, “such as a central guest room that would be easy to rent in the flat block,” explains Vukovic.
The Master’s students have also identified a high level of willingness among the population to move into a smaller flat. However, the problem here is that there are not enough small flats available, according to the press release. The price can also be an obstacle: “Nobody would give up a four-room flat for 1,000 francs for a smaller flat that costs the same or more,” says Vukovic.
Urban centres could be eased by moving to more rural regions. In the survey, around 95 per cent of respondents indicated a willingness to do so. “However, the respondents would not move without conditions,” explains Dietrich. “Incentives would have to be created to encourage people to move away from urban centres.”