In Switzerland in 2022, two thirds (67.0%) of residential buildings were owned by individuals. Legal persons owned more than one in ten of these buildings (11.9%). Communities, a term that refers to simple partnerships, heirships, communities of property or joint ownership, owned 14.4% of real estate.
Types of building owner
Types of building owner by canton
In 2022, Appenzell Innerrhoden (82.8%) and Ticino (82.1%) were the cantons with the highest proportion of residential buildings owned by individuals. The cantons with the lowest rates were Basel-Stadt (39.5%) and Basel-Landschaft (46.4%). The cantons of Basel-Stadt and Geneva stand out with high proportions (30.9% and 26.4% respectively) of assets held by legal persons.
Types of owner by building category
The structure of property owners varies by building category. In 2022, 75.3% of single-family houses were owned by individuals, and 18.2% by communities (mainly by simple partnerships, but also heirships, communities of property and joint ownership). More than half (55.8%) of multi-family houses were privately owned and 20.3% were owned by legal persons.
Types of owner by building construction period
Older buildings tend to be more often owned by individuals than newer buildings.
Survey basis and explanations
The statistics on the type of owner of buildings provide information on the ownership structure of residential buildings. They are carried out by matching the data on the stock of residential buildings in the RegBL with those collected by the FSO from the land registers. This is made possible thanks to the digitalisation and harmonisation of land registers in Switzerland. A document providing detailed information on the matching of land register data with RegBL data and on the comparability of results from 2020 onwards with those of the 2000 Federal Population Census can be found on our French, German and Italian pages.
Further information
Statistical sources and concepts
