Federal government allows Blatten owners to rebuild across Lötschental

Switzerland’s federal government will allow owners of second homes destroyed in the landslide at Blatten to rebuild anywhere in the Lötschental valley, SRF reported. The affected municipalities will have the right to veto how the new homes are used.

Federal Councillor Albert Rösti presented the interpretation of the Second Homes Act during a visit to the valley. The Federal Office for Spatial Development confirmed the arrangement to Keystone-SDA.

The rule is based on a 2022 Federal Supreme Court ruling that allowed destroyed second homes built under the former law to be rebuilt with a “minor change of location”. It had previously been unclear how that provision applied to an entirely destroyed village.

Rösti said that, in Blatten’s exceptional circumstances, the entire Lötschental would be considered “near” the original location. A family that lost its home in the landslide on May 28, 2025, could therefore build a new primary residence in a neighbouring municipality and later sell it as a second home. Rösti estimated that between 10 and 30 cases could be affected.

To prevent the creation of new “cold beds”, the municipalities can record in the land register that a property must be used permanently as a primary residence. According to the report, the municipalities of Kippel and Ferden are expected to use this option.

The previously unclear legal situation had caused disagreement in the valley. Tourism-oriented municipalities such as Wiler supported a generous interpretation, while others, including Kippel, warned that it could drive up land prices and reduce the supply of affordable housing for local residents.

More than 60 percent of homes in Blatten were second homes built under the former law. Under the Second Homes Initiative, also known as the Lex Weber law, municipalities where more than 20 percent of homes are second homes may not approve new holiday apartments. That threshold had been exceeded throughout the Lötschental.