Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

Some who move to Switzerland might not be aware that they are almost certainly required to pay one of the world’s highest broadcasting fees. An annual Swiss licence costs CHF 451.10 per household. © Jacek Chabraszewski | Dreamstime A successful vote in 2015 changed the rules on who must pay the fee. From 2019, it will be compulsory for anyone with a primary or secondary residence in Switzerland to pay it, effectively making it a tax on all households. At a new lower price of CHF 400 It will...

Many people employed in Swiss homes are undeclared. According to one estimate the amount of unpaid social security taxes on the total paid to these people could be as high as CHF 320 million a year. © Tomislav Pinter | Dreamstime Quitt.ch, a company that helps people with the administration around employing home help, reckons between 200,000 and 250,000 of the 400,000 people employed in homes in Switzerland are unregistered, a figure supported by a number of other studies. According to...

© Nwanda76 | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge Home vacancy rates in Switzerland’s main cities have all risen over the last few years, bringing some hope to those looking for a place to live. The latest 2017 data confirm this trend. While these percentage shifts might appear big, very low vacancy rates underly them. On 1 June 2012, none of these cities had a vacancy rate above 1%. Zurich (0.29%), Bern (0.48%), Basel...

Home vacancy rates in Switzerland’s main cities have all risen over the last few years, bringing some hope to those looking for a place to live. The latest 2017 data confirm this trend. © Nwanda76 | Dreamstime Over the last five years vacancy rates have risen by between 18% and 49% in the main cities of Zurich (+32%), Bern (+37%), Basel (18%), Lausanne (+49%) and Geneva (+38%). While these percentage shifts might appear big, very low vacancy rates underly them. On 1 June 2012, none of these...

Switzerland’s federal council, the country’s seven-person executive or cabinet, has come up with a plan to cut those exorbitant mobile roaming phone bills that many of us return home to after trips abroad, an experience which hurts even more now roaming charges have been eliminated for EU residents. © Ocusfocus | Dreamstime The roaming proposal is part of a wide-ranging revision to Switzerland’s telecommunications laws, the first since 2007. The updated laws would give the government new...

Switzerland’s federal council, the country’s seven-person executive or cabinet, has come up with a plan to cut those exorbitant mobile roaming phone bills that many of us return home to after trips abroad, an experience which hurts even more now roaming charges have been eliminated for EU residents. © Ocusfocus | Dreamstime The roaming proposal is part of a wide-ranging revision to Switzerland’s telecommunications laws, the first since 2007. The updated laws would give the government new...

© Tomasz Markowski | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge When 10-year mortgage interest rates fall to 1%, home ownership becomes a very attractive alternative to renting. A recent report on home ownership shows why home ownership remains out of reach of the average Swiss household despite very low interest rates. The report, by Credit Suisse, says that despite the strong desire for people to own their own home, fewer and...

© Tomasz Markowski | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge When 10-year mortgage interest rates fall to 1%, home ownership becomes a very attractive alternative to renting. A recent report on home ownership shows why home ownership remains out of reach of the average Swiss household despite very low interest rates. The report, by Credit Suisse, says that despite the strong desire for people to own their own home, fewer and...

When 10-year mortgage interest rates fall to 1%, home ownership becomes a very attractive alternative to renting. A recent report on home ownership shows why home ownership remains out of reach of the average Swiss household despite very low interest rates. © Tomasz Markowski | Dreamstime The report, by Credit Suisse, says that despite the strong desire for people to own their own home, fewer and fewer households are able to afford them as the years go by. The reason is twofold. Prices are...

A recent report shows a 2% drop in average Swiss beer consumption in 2016. Over the last 20 years it has dropped 4% to 54.9 litres per person. Swiss craft beer © CÔTEWEST BREWING Sàrl On its own this would be no cause for alarm, however in 2016, the number of breweries in Switzerland rose by 21% to 753. Since 2011, the number is up 118% from 345. The website bov.ch lists 794 breweries in Switzerland so it is possible that the number has grown further since government statistics were...