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Comment by michpoch

2 years ago

There's a really nice solution that works well in Switzerland - you either pay tax from the actual rent or a tax on a virtual rent, if the property stays unoccupied.

Vacant properties are around 1% here.

1% is insanely dysfunctionaly low. It doesn’t allow for units to stay vacant between tenants for repairs and cleaning. At 1% the unit is vacant for 3 days every year on average. That’s not enough time for basic things to be done and indicates an incredibly tight rental market

  • > It doesn’t allow for units to stay vacant between tenants for repairs and cleaning. Cleaning is done by the previous tenant, or usually by a company the hire. Repairs are done on an on-going basis.

Switzerland also has an imputed rent tax for owner-occupiers and a majority are renters. It’s an unusual market.

1% vacancy rate is unequivocally bad. It means the rental market is far too tight and proper repairs are not being done.

  • > It means the rental market is far too tight and proper repairs are not being done. Why wouldn't they be done? What repairs are we talking about?

    • There literally isn't time for it. 1% vacancy leaves less than 4 days to turn a unit over when someone leaves. That's not enough time to repair units.

Well played. How do they decide if a property is rentable?

  • Why would it matter? If you keep paying the tax it'll be a good motivation to make it rentable or sell it to someone who can do it.