According to blue News, citing Keystone-SDA, the Federal Council has put forward changes to Lex Koller that would require permits for third-country nationals buying a home and ban pure rental investment in commercial property.
According to blue News, citing the Keystone-SDA agency, on 15 April 2026 the Federal Council submitted amendments to the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad, known as Lex Koller, for consultation. Interested parties had until 15 July to comment. The Federal Council argues that living space in Switzerland has become scarce and refers to the SVP initiative against a Switzerland of 10 million.
Under the proposal, citizens of countries outside the EU and EFTA would have to obtain a permit to buy a home in Switzerland, and would have to resell it within two years if they move away. People abroad would no longer be allowed to buy commercial property in order to rent it out, though buying for their own business would remain possible without a permit.
The purchase of vacation homes by people abroad is also to be restricted: the cantons' annual permit quotas would be reduced, and a permit would again be needed when one foreigner sells a vacation apartment or a hotel-apartment unit to another. Persons abroad would additionally be barred from acquiring listed shares in residential real estate companies and units in regularly traded real estate funds. This is a proposal that was in consultation, not a law in force. Check the current status of Lex Koller with a Swiss lawyer before any purchase.