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The Middle Way

Politics as a compass — four poles, three rooms.

Four poles span the main axes: top is the upper class (top income quintile), bottom the lower class, left and right the ideological poles — the latter backed by original party programmes. Click a pole for the structural situation. At the centre: three solution spaces where overlaps might emerge.

Topic
8 more in progress
Pilot · As of June 2026

Housing crisis

Housing cost burdens hit each stratum differently. Four positions, three solution spaces, one constitutional frame.

Current state
LÖSUNGSRAUMUPPERRIGHTLOWERLEFT
Pick a pole

Click one of the four poles in the compass to see a stratum's structural situation or an ideology's documented positions. Everything with original sources. At the centre: three solution spaces.

Constitutional anchors
Current motions & initiatives
Tensions

Politics moves between poles. Here are three of them — slide the handle and see the documented consequences of each position. No recommendation, just a map of the possibility space.

Tenant protection ↔ Investment incentives

How much tenant protection — and what's the cost on the investment side?

Strong tenant protectionCentreMarket deregulation
Status quo CH — Consequence

Moderate regulation under OR. Existing rents 2006-2021 rose much more than cost-based justified — per BASS study, about CHF 78 bn redistributed to landlord side. Reference-rate cuts only passed on in 1 of 6 rentals.

Evidence

Redistribution 2006-2021: CHF 78 bn. Updated: annual rent payments ca. CHF 42 bn.

Inward densification ↔ Zone expansion

Do we grow inward or outward?

Strict RPG 2 enforcementCentreExpand building zones
Mixed policy with displacement risk — Consequence

Densification happens, but via replacement construction. In the five largest agglomerations, up to 63 % of new builds are replacements — structurally displacing low-income tenants since new occupants have notably higher incomes.

Evidence

63 % replacement builds in top-5 agglomerations. Median income in replacements 14.6-38.7 % higher.

Non-profit ↔ Private market

Who builds affordable housing — cooperatives or the market?

Expand co-ops to >20 %CentreTax incentives for private market
Status quo ~4 % CH — Consequence

Per the updated BWO 2024 statistic, co-op flats make up ~3.7 % of all Swiss homes, ~4 % per umbrella estimate (~165k-170k flats). Market impact at this share is small and barely visible in rent indices.

Evidence

BWO/BFS 2024: 3.7 % co-ops (152k of 4.1 M). The often-cited 7.9 % comes from older / broader definitions (incl. public sector, foundations).

Three solution spaces

Not recommendations — documented options from scientific and political debate. With trade-offs, feasibility scale (1-5) and time horizon.

  • Expand non-profit housing

    3-7J

    Top up the revolving fund (Federal Council proposes CHF 150 M for 2030-2034), interest-subsidised guarantees, cantonal/communal land leased to cooperatives. Cost-based rents permanently 20-30 % below market.

    Co-op market share CH
    0,0 %
    BWO 2024: 3.7 %, umbrella estimate ~4 %
    Zurich City vs CH average
    CH average
    0 %
    Zurich City
    0 %
    Zurich incl. municipal
    0,0 %
    Zurich City wohnpolitischer Bericht 2020-2023
    Trade-off: Doesn't necessarily create new housing if only redistributing land. Slow scale — CH market share at ~4 % (BWO 2024). Zurich City reaches 18 % co-ops, 28.9 % non-profit in total.
    Feasibility
    Affects
    Q3Q1

  • Densification & up-zoning (RPG 2)

    10+J

    Inward growth over outward expansion. RPG 2 cements the building/non-building separation; inward densification becomes the only growth path. Creates supply without consuming landscape.

    Replacement-build share in top-5 agglomerations
    Early 2000s
    0 %
    Today
    0 %
    ETH/BWO densification study
    Replacement occupants vs general population (median income)
    Min
    0,0 %
    Max
    0,0 %
    ETH/BWO — displacement effect
    Trade-off: Replacement construction displaces low-income tenants (ETH study: up to 63 % of new builds in agglomerations are replacement). Detail-level acceptance hurdles (up-zoning, value-capture levy).
    Feasibility
    Affects
    Q3Q5

  • Tenant-law reform & housing protection

    1-3J

    Constitutional anchor for cost-based rent (actual cost + capped return) via the rent-price initiative. Alternatively: housing-protection models (Basel/Geneva style) extended to more cantons. Geneva shows: despite the strictest regulation, net housing growth +110 % (2000-2023) vs. Zurich −7 %.

    Net housing growth 2000-2023
    Zurich (looser)
    0 %
    Geneva (LDTR since 1983)
    0 %
    tsri/BWO — cantonal data
    Planned units Basel-City
    2018 (pre-protection)
    0
    2023 (post-protection)
    0
    Swiss Real Estate Institute — protection study
    Trade-off: Avenir Suisse warns of investment disincentives. Basel experience: building applications −76 % per critics, but eviction terminations down. Politically open after the double rejection in 2024.
    Feasibility
    Affects
    Q1Q3
Existing-rent price index

Index (Dec 2020 = 100) · Q1 2026 — Snapshot, Live-Anbindung in Vorbereitung

109.5
2026
95.8102.7109.52015201720192021202320252026
BFS — Mietpreisindex↗

Methodology

Stratum definition follows BFS income quintiles (Q1 bottom, Q5 top). Ideological poles are exclusively backed by official party programmes and parliamentary motions — never attributed as stereotype. Solution spaces are not recommendations but documented options from scientific and political debate. Where a source is uncertain, it is marked (pre-advisory-review state).