Swiss law restricts the acquisition of real estate in Switzerland by persons abroad, except commercial premises, which is not subject to authorization. To acquire real estate, permission has to be obtained from the competent cantonal authority. As a result, the authority designated by the canton decides whether a transaction should be subject to authorization and whether it should be authorized. This permission may be granted only in the cases provided by federal and cantonal law. The fact that the real estate may already be in foreign hand and the legal basis of the acquisition (e.g. purchase, gift, inheritance, and legacy) are, in principle, immaterial.
In practice, authorizations are extremely difficult to obtain, except for secondary residences in tourist areas.
The following natural person are regarded as persons abroad:
- Foreigners domiciled abroad;
- Foreigners domiciled in Switzerland, who are nationals of neither EU or EFTA Member State and who do not hold a valid C settlement permit.
Companies, which have their registered office abroad, are considered as persons abroad. The same applies to legal entities or companies without legal personality but capable to own property, which, while having their registered office in Switzerland, are controlled by persons abroad. Control by persons abroad is in particular presumed when more than one third of a company’s capital or more than one third of the voting rights are in their hands or if they have granted substantial loans to the company.
A foreigner who resides in Switzerland, but does not hold a C permit, may nevertheless purchase a dwelling (single-family house or owner-occupied) in his actual place of main residence without having to obtain authorization. The same applies to building land, provided construction work on this accommodation commences within one year. The purchase of a main residence is exempted from the authorization requirement only if it is bought in the buyer’s own name. The living area may be of any size, as long as only one residential unit is concerned.
