No immediate solution to Vaud housing crisis

With a vacancy rate of only 0.5% and an extra 10′000 residents for the year of 2007 alone, Vaud cannot see the end to the housing crisis that started five years ago.

The Vaud Socialist party wants the canton to step up the construction of low cost housing, since an additional 100′000 residents are expected before 2020. Furthermore, as the number of persons per household diminishes, the trend has been for an increase of meters square per inhabitant.

The Vaud Parliament has rejected the motion from the Socialist Party, on the grounds that the regulation of market forces should induce the private sector to respond to the crisis.

Source: 24 Heures

Although the vacancy rate is also low at the higher end of the property rental market, specialists say that it is in no way comparable to the situation of low cost housing.