Planned Tightening of Lex Koller Rules

by Charles Gschwind, Andreas F. Vögeli, Fabiano Menghini

In response to the “10-Million Switzerland” initiative and persistent housing-shortage concerns across the country, the Swiss Federal Council presented a draft comprehensive revision of the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad (the “Lex Koller“) on 15 April 2026 (the “Draft“). The Draft signals a return to a more restrictive regime aimed at preserving Swiss land for residents and curbing foreign investment in domestic real estate.

This article examines the proposed key modifications under the Draft (Section 2), their implications for the Swiss real estate market (Section 3) as well as the legislative outlook (Section 4). For further details, the currently proposed modifications are outlined in the two attached mark-ups against the current version of Lex Koller (in German and French).