Latest updates
Impact of lakefront public footpaths on landowners' rights
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 02 August 2019
According to federal planning principles, the cantons and municipalities must guarantee free public access to lakesides and riverbanks. However, some cantons have not yet implemented the required legislation, not least because of objections from private landowners. This article outlines the applicable federal legal framework and highlights examples of its implementation by two cantons.
Latest environmental legislation in effect and in the pipeline
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 17 June 2019
This article summarises key amendments to Swiss environmental laws which either came into effect in recent months or will come into effect in the foreseeable future. Recent developments in this area affect, among other things, plant and water protection, chemicals, non-ionising radiation, energy and CO2 reduction.
New rules for reorganising financially distressed companies
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Insolvency & Restructuring
- Switzerland
- 12 April 2019
In June 2018 the House of Representatives narrowly voted to support a bill which proposes additional protection from claw-back actions for creditors which grant loans that are pre‑approved by an insolvency administrator. While the next steps in the legislative process are unclear, the House of Representatives will likely reopen the debate on this bill in its next session in Summer 2019.
Brexit: changes for UK citizens on Swiss property market
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 15 March 2019
While it remains unclear when and on what terms Brexit will happen, the United Kingdom and Switzerland recently signed an agreement on citizens' rights which covers the purchase and retention of real estate by UK citizens in Switzerland and vice versa. After Brexit, UK citizens with a legal and actual Swiss residence will require a permanent Swiss residence permit (C permit). Otherwise, they will be considered persons abroad and will be subject to the Lex Koller restrictions.
Swiss voters reject plan to freeze building zones
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 22 February 2019
Swiss voters recently rejected an initiative that aimed to stop urban sprawl by freezing the overall size of building zones and strictly limiting exceptions that allow building activities outside building zones. While supporters of the initiative considered the current legal regime to be insufficient, opponents argued that the proposed initiative was overly strict, unable to accommodate cantonal and regional differences and inadequate to address population and economic growth.
Revised CO2 Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 28 January 2019
While the Federal Act on the Reduction of CO2 Emissions (CO2 Act) has had some success in reducing CO2 emissions, the average CO2 emissions of passenger cars have increased in recent years. As the existing law cannot sufficiently meet the ambitious goals of the Paris Convention, Parliament should agree on a revised CO2 Act that can provide for appropriate instruments to reach these goals.
Debt enforcement and bankruptcy law revisions enter into force
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Insolvency & Restructuring
- Switzerland
- 18 January 2019
A number of revisions to the Private International Law Act and the Debt Enforcement Bankruptcy Act recently entered into force. The revisions aim to improve and facilitate the recognition and enforcement of foreign bankruptcy rulings and enhance protection against unjustified debt enforcement proceedings. Significantly, Swiss law now recognises foreign bankruptcies opened at the bankrupt's seat, registered office or centre of main interest.
Federal Supreme Court decision on compensation due to limitation of secondary homes
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 16 November 2018
The Federal Supreme Court recently addressed for the first time whether the prohibition to build secondary homes on private property entitles landowners to compensation. The court ruled on the consequences of the withdrawal of a previously established right through an amendment of the law and clarified that the concept of private property is not a fixed notion inaccessible to change. There is no entitlement to a permanent definition of the concept of private property.
Federal Supreme Court rules on allocation of clean-up costs for contaminated sites
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 15 October 2018
The Federal Supreme Court recently ruled on the allocation of clean-up costs where certain polluters are exempt from liability. For the first time, the court discussed the question of whether a contaminated site owner's exemption from liability leads to a corresponding additional burden on the polluter which, through its own conduct, caused the clean-up measures or whether the additional burden passes to the canton and the municipality.
Federal government drops plan to tighten rules on foreign real property investments
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 29 June 2018
In March 2017 the federal government submitted to public consultation several proposals to amend the legal regime governing foreign investments in Swiss real property. The vast majority of the comments received rejected the proposed amendments. While the government subsequently dropped its plan to amend the Lex Koller and a related ordinance, certain pending parliamentary motions may impact the Lex Koller regime in the medium term.
Latest environmental legislation in effect and in the pipeline
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 28 May 2018
Various amendments to Swiss environmental statutes and ordinances have recently entered into effect or will come into effect in the foreseeable future. These new measures include certain amendments to the Energy Act, the Water Protection Ordinance, the Ordinance on the Prevention and the Disposal of Waste and the Ordinance on Protection against Major Accidents.
Levy on added value of land resulting from planning measures
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 27 April 2018
Swiss legislation provides for adequate compensation for considerable advantages and disadvantages resulting from spatial planning measures. In particular, land that is newly allocated to a building zone substantially increases in value. Owners of such land will benefit from spatial planning activities without any contribution on their part. For reasons of fairness, these benefits are subject to a levy which is supposed to 'skim off' part of the added value.
Revision of Federal Act on the Reduction of CO2 Emissions
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 18 December 2017
The Federal Council recently published its dispatch regarding the total revision of the Federal Act on the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Emissions for 2021 to 2030. The parliamentary debate on the revision of the act will start in 2018. This will define the development and course of Swiss climate policy for upcoming years. Switzerland aims to tighten the act and reinforce its contribution to the limitation of global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Legislative developments in land-use planning
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 24 November 2017
The proposed second part of the Spatial Planning Act revision will give the cantons more flexibility with regard to construction activities outside building zones so that they can consider their individual needs more appropriately. An initiative to stop uncontrolled urban sprawl will oblige the federation, cantons and communities to freeze the present size of building zones and ensure that the zones grow no further.
Major steps taken towards linking Swiss and EU emissions trading systems
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 09 October 2017
Contrary to the EU emissions trading system (ETS), thus far the Swiss ETS does not incorporate aviation emissions. In order to align and link the Swiss and EU ETS, the Swiss system must include these emissions. As such, the Federal Council recently adopted the Ordinance on the Acquisition and Reporting of Tonne-Kilometre Data relating to Distances Covered by Aircraft.
Federal Supreme Court stops property sale between foreigners
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 14 July 2017
Foreign investments in Swiss real estate are governed by a federal law known as the 'Lex Koller' and additional cantonal rules. The law restricts the acquisition of residential real property by non-Swiss residents. In a recent decision, the Federal Supreme Court decided for the first time that the sale of a vacation home between two non-Swiss residents is allowed only in designated communities. The decision stops a long-standing practice of the cantonal authorities.
Swiss inventories of second homes published
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 05 May 2017
An initiative adopted in 2012 led to a constitutional amendment limiting the total number of second homes in any municipality to 20% of the total number of residential units existing in the concerned municipality. Each municipality is obliged to keep an inventory of all homes and to update it by the end of each calendar year. The Federal Office for Spatial Development recently published the inventories of second homes for the first time.
Environmental legislation in effect and in the pipeline
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 01 May 2017
Various amendments to Swiss environmental statutes and ordinances came into effect in 2016 or will come into effect in 2017. These new measures include certain amendments to the adjustments to the Ordinance on Movements of Waste, a revision of the Ordinance on the Protection against Non-ionising Radiation and amendments to the Federal Act on Forests and the Ordinance on Forests.
Stricter rules for foreign investments in Swiss real property?
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Real Estate
- Switzerland
- 07 April 2017
Even though the federal Parliament recently rejected two motions to tighten the legal regime governing foreign investments in Swiss real estate, the federal government has now submitted a number of proposals that head in the same direction. Under the guise of closing loopholes and improving law enforcement, a substantial tightening of the legal regime governing foreign investments is under discussion.
Federal Supreme Court decision on building in noise-affected areas
Pestalozzi Attorneys at Law- Environment & Climate Change
- Switzerland
- 19 December 2016
Swiss environmental laws provide for certain requirements to allow new building zones and new buildings in areas that are affected by noise. To assess compliance with these requirements, noise measurements are required. In a recent decision, the Federal Supreme Court decided that a widely used method of measurement – so-called 'ventilation-window practice' – is not compatible with legal requirements.
