Buying the home you live in would become a permit matter for buyers from outside the EU and EFTA. The National Council said yes on 22 September, the Council of States has not ruled yet.
By the Envergure editorial team
A buyer from outside the EU and EFTA would need a permit for the home they plan to live in, and two years to sell it after leaving Switzerland. The National Council passed that text on 22 September 2026.
FEDERALThe National Council voted the lex Koller reform through on 22 September 2026. The Council of States has yet to rule, so none of these rules bind a transaction today, though the text has left the drawing board.
The timetable has been tight for a law of this reach. The Federal Council opened its consultation procedure on 15 April 2026 and closed it on 15 July, and Parliament picked the file up from there.
Nationals of states outside the EU and EFTA. The draft makes their purchase of a principal residence subject to authorisation, a step that falls outside the permit regime today, as RTS reports.
The line runs through the buyer's nationality rather than the use of the building. The flat someone actually lives in, until now the least watched case under the lex Koller, would sit in the same basket as the holiday chalet.
FEDERALFive measures sit in the package, and no two of them touch the same buyer. That is what makes the parliamentary debate hard to boil down to a single vote on principle.
| What the law covers | Today | Under the reform |
|---|---|---|
| Principal residence of a non-EU/EFTA buyer | Outside the permit regime | Subject to authorisation |
| Foreign owner leaving Switzerland | No deadline to sell | Sale within two years |
| Annual cantonal quotas, holiday homes | Current volumes | Reduced volumes |
| Shares in listed residential property companies | Open to buyers abroad | Barred to people domiciled abroad |
| Commercial buildings | Exempt from authorisation | Permit required, unless for the buyer's own business use |
Someone domiciled abroad can buy shares in Swiss listed residential property companies today. The reform would bar that, and would also strip the permit exemption foreign investors enjoy on commercial buildings, except where they run their own business there (RTS).
This is the most argued part of the package, and the furthest from what the law was originally built for. A listed share is liquid, anonymous and parked in a portfolio, miles away from a chalet sold to a distant buyer. The same flats sit at the end of the chain either way.
Yes, within two years, for the foreign owners the new regime would cover. The duty is triggered by leaving the country, not by selling a home that has grown too big or too costly.
Two years sounds roomy and rarely is. A well placed flat goes in a few weeks, an unusual property can sit in the window for six months without a serious viewing. A seller working against a date negotiates worse, and the buyer across the table always ends up sensing it.