Thun targets 1,000 affordable homes as renters face scarcity

Thun plans to add 1,000 non-profit homes by 2045, but the city’s housing shortage is expected to persist for several years, Swiss broadcaster SRF reports. The vacancy rate is 0.08%, and prospective tenants often find that apartments are gone within days.

The city’s population has grown by 10% since 2000 to about 45,000, while an average of only around 100 new apartments have been built each year. In one recent viewing, Cesaldina Ott considered a renovated two-and-a-half-room apartment in the Hohmad quarter for just under 1,300 francs a month. But she has a cat, and pets are not allowed. It was her fifth viewing.

Thun city architect Florian Kühne says some developers held back while waiting for the revised building and zoning regulations, which took effect in 2025. He expects the conditions to meet demand to be in place in four or five years. The Homeowners Association, meanwhile, points to complex regulations, objections and bureaucracy as obstacles to construction.

The city aims to provide housing for residents at all income levels. One project is Freistatt, a housing cooperative development in Hohmad scheduled for completion in 2030. It will have 272 apartments, two-thirds of them non-profit housing. Planning took about 10 years and included a public vote because the land belongs to the city and its building lease had to be renewed.

Two other large developments are planned over the next 10 to 15 years: up to 800 apartments at Siegenthalergut, near the Thun stadium, and 600 at Bostudenzelg. Between one-third and half of the homes in each development are expected to be non-profit.

The city also needs to renew building leases granted to housing cooperatives during the postwar construction boom. Many of the buildings need renovation, and the city plans to stagger the lease renewals to avoid having all the work happen at once. For Ott, who needs a home from March 2027, the future projects offer little immediate help.