Buying a house in Switzerland, permits and own funds
What you have to raise, who needs a Lex Koller permit, and the moment the property actually becomes yours.
By the Envergure editorial team
Buying a house in Switzerland takes four steps, the search, the financing, the deed signed before a notary, and the entry in the land register. You need 20% in own funds, at least 10% of the price from outside your pension fund. Your passport and permit decide whether a cantonal authorisation applies.
Who can buy property in Switzerland, and on what conditions
Two things decide your access. Where you stand under the federal act on the acquisition of real estate by persons abroad, known as Lex Koller, and whether you can raise the own funds. The first question is legal, the second financial. No bank looks at the second before the first one is settled.
Lex Koller requires a cantonal authorisation when the buyer is a foreign individual, a company with its seat abroad, or a Swiss company under dominant foreign control. It has been in force since 1 January 1985. The canton where the property sits applies it. Its authority checks whether the purchase falls under the regime, then rules case by case.
| Your situation | Cantonal authorisation | What applies |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss national | No | Outside the scope of Lex Koller |
| C permit, any nationality, resident in Switzerland | No | A settlement permit takes you out of the authorisation regime |
| EU or EFTA national, B permit, resident in Switzerland | No | Agreement on the free movement of persons |
| Non EU and non EFTA national, B permit | Yes, unless an exception applies | A person abroad in the sense of the act, buying the home you will live in yourself is one statutory exception |
| EU or EFTA national with no Swiss residence | Yes | Lex Koller authorisation regime |
| Company with its seat abroad, or Swiss company under dominant foreign control | Yes | Treated as a person abroad |
Regime in force on 27 October 2026, Lex Koller (RS 211.412.41) and its implementing ordinance OAIE (RS 211.412.411). Sources, Federal Office of Justice, canton of Geneva and canton of Valais.
The act reads acquisition broadly. It covers ownership and building rights, shares in a real estate company, and the creation or exercise of a purchase or pre-emption right. A purchase right lets you buy at a price fixed in advance, a pre-emption right lets you step ahead of another buyer. Holding the property through a structure therefore changes nothing.
Owning a home in Switzerland gives you no right of residence. The two regimes are separate. The Federal Council also opened a consultation on 15 April 2026 on a bill that tightens Lex Koller, with a mandatory authorisation for home purchases by nationals of states that belong to neither the EU nor EFTA, and restrictions on second homes. The consultation closed on 15 July 2026. The bill is not in force and awaits parliamentary debate, which we follow in the Lex Koller reform and the permit test for foreign buyers.
How much money do you need to buy a house in Switzerland
Banking practice asks for 20% of the price in own funds and lends the remaining 80%. At least half of those 20% has to be hard money, meaning savings or a gift. That share cannot come from pledging or from an early withdrawal of your second pillar, the occupational pension fund. FINMA recognised this requirement of 10% of the lending value as a minimum supervisory standard on 1 July 2012.
The lending value is the figure the bank uses to size its loan. It does not automatically follow the asking price, and the lower of the two prevails. If the seller gets more than that value, the gap comes out of your own funds. Our guide on what a house is worth in Switzerland sets out the three methods that produce the figure.
The debt does not stay where it starts. The part above two thirds of the lending value has to be repaid in straight line instalments within fifteen years at most. FINMA cut that period from twenty to fifteen years on 1 September 2014.
For a property you do not live in, the bar moves. Since 1 January 2020, FINMA has recognised a reinforced requirement of at least a quarter in own funds for investment properties, instead of 10%.
Then comes the monthly load. No law caps it, but banking practice prices your interest at a theoretical rate of 4.5% to 5%, well above the real cost of credit, then adds repayment and maintenance. The total must stay under a third of the household gross income. The official marker for the cost of credit is the reference interest rate, at 1.25% since 2 September 2025 and unchanged until the next publication on 1 December 2026.
Example, an apartment at 950,000 francs
Example, what you need to raise for an apartment at 950,000 francs
- Purchase price
- 950,000 CHF
- Hard own funds, savings or a gift
- 95,000 CHF
- Early withdrawal from the second pillar, at most
- 95,000 CHF
- Mortgage from the bank
- 760,000 CHF
- Total own funds to raise
- 190,000 CHF
Assumptions, the bank sets the lending value at the purchase price, own funds come to 20% and half of them come from somewhere other than the second pillar. The slice of the mortgage above two thirds of that value, 126,667 francs above 633,333 francs, has to be repaid within fifteen years at most, around 8,444 francs a year. Costs tied to the deed are not counted here, our guide to the costs of a property sale in Switzerland says who pays what.
Buying a house in Switzerland, step by step
The path is the same across Switzerland. The sale is valid only in notarised form, and the land register entry is what transfers ownership, as the official portal ch.ch sets out.
- Settle your access first Your nationality, your permit and your residence decide whether an authorisation applies. The file is handled by the canton where the property sits, which rules case by case. Ask the question before you view, not after you have made an offer.
- Size your own funds Count on 20% of the price, with at least 10% that comes neither from pledging nor from a second pillar withdrawal. Without that hard share the file goes nowhere.
- Get a valuation before you offer The bank lends on the lending value, not on the asking price. A valuation done before your offer keeps you from discovering the gap at financing stage.
- Do not mistake a reservation for a purchase A reservation contract signed with a deposit carries no legal force as long as the notarised deed is unsigned. It binds neither the seller nor you.
- Sign the deed before the notary The sale is valid only in notarised form, meaning recorded and certified by a notary. The notary explains any clause you do not understand. Depending on the canton you pick your own notary or go through an official one.
- Wait for the land register entry The notary, or the seller in some cantons, reports the transfer to the land registry office. The entry usually follows a few weeks later, and that entry is what makes you the owner.
Five points are worth checking before you sign. The deed has to carry every essential element of the contract, starting with the price actually agreed, and a front price makes the sale void for simulation, as a Federal Supreme Court ruling confirmed.
- The price written in the deed is the price actually agreed, with no front figure
- Every clause you did not understand has been explained to you by the notary
- You know whether your canton lets you choose the notary or imposes an official one
- You know who reports the transfer to the land registry, the notary or the seller
- Your position under Lex Koller is settled in writing rather than assumed
Two traps before you sign
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a house in Switzerland with a B permit?
Yes, if you hold an EU or EFTA passport and live in Switzerland. The agreement on the free movement of persons exempts you from authorisation from the B permit onward. With a passport from outside the EU and EFTA, the same B permit leaves you under Lex Koller, unless a statutory exception applies, such as buying the home you will live in.
Can you buy a house in Switzerland without citizenship?
Yes. Citizenship is not the test, residence and nationality group are. A C settlement permit takes you out of the authorisation regime whatever your passport, and an EU or EFTA national living in Switzerland is out of it from the B permit. Everyone else needs the canton to rule on the purchase.
Can I buy a house in Switzerland as an American?
An American passport sits outside the EU and EFTA, so the test is your permit. With a C permit and Swiss residence you buy without authorisation. Without a C permit you count as a person abroad under Lex Koller, with statutory exceptions, the main one being the home you will live in yourself as your legal and effective domicile.
Can you buy a house in Switzerland with no deposit?
No. At least 10% of the lending value has to be own funds that come neither from pledging nor from an early pension withdrawal, a minimum supervisory standard since 1 July 2012. The second pillar can fund the other half of the usual 20%. Full bank financing does not exist in this framework.
Does buying property in Switzerland give you a residence permit?
No. Ownership and residence are separate regimes. Permit questions go to the State Secretariat for Migration or the cantonal migration office, with no regard for what you own. A property purchase is neither a shortcut nor an argument in a permit file.
Can a company buy property in Switzerland?
A company with its seat abroad falls under the authorisation regime, and so does a Swiss company under dominant foreign control. Buying shares in a real estate company counts as an acquisition in its own right. A French style property holding company has no equivalent in Swiss law and gets no better treatment.
When can you buy a house in Switzerland?
You can sign as soon as the financing is in place and any authorisation is granted, but you own the property only once the land register entry is made. The notary, or the seller in some cantons, reports the transfer, and the entry usually follows a few weeks later.