Dear all,

How difficult It is to buy a land and building a new house ?

Regards,

Hasan

It‘s quite easy...

if you got the money and materails/workers,the problems should solveable

You can start by seeing what building plots are available, for example:
https://www.homegate.ch/kaufen/baula...CAAEgKUU_D_BwE

In my village if you have endlessly deep pockets, patience to the level of a zen master, and are chock full o' Vitamin B, it's do-able.

For the rest of us, good luck.


(There's a nice bit o' land available in the area, suitable for a decent sized single family home or the more typical concrete shoebox for 8 families, that rumor has it the farmer's heirs are willing to sell - offers over 15 million please. And then you have to sacrifice to the re-zoning gods yourself.)

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As you might guess, this is a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question.

Building land costs vary significantly, from a few hundred per m2 to many thousand per m2, location dependent. How many dozens of people with similar desires will be competing for that land, and whether the land owner is willing to sell to you is a roll of the dice. (Around here, rumor has it that developers have already optioned off much of the potentially buildable land, which is why you rarely see a property for sale.)

Whether you can get building permission, as well as what you are permitted to build, varies with the location, affability of the Bauamt, tolerance of neighbors, and a whole raft of regulations. (It is not unknown that one might need to offer neighbors compensation to get agreement to building plans.)

Whether you can find a builder or architect who is willing to build what you want, another factor. The few people I knew who were able to build started out wanting a Landhaus but ended up with a soulless concrete box, as that was the only thing local architects were willing to build. (And small villages being what they are, not using a local architect might mean you don't get your permits.)

Then there is the whole fun of actually building. Nerves of steel and ulcer medication are recommended.

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tl;dr - It's doable. But YMMV.

As MC said, it'll depend on area, etc. But you could look at house building companies as these sometimes have land for sale as well. Here's one I looked at some years ago.

http://www.ecim.ch/#home

There are a lot of others around.

Also if this is near you, you might like to go along and talk with some of the companies there about how easy/difficult it may be.

https://www.home-expo.ch/

Thanks all for the answers.

Hasan

Before buying check with the commune what is allowed to build in terms of square metres and height. Also if you can build a basement and garage or even a garden shed. They tend to be very helpful and will give you the information.

When purchased you'll probably need the help of an architect who will make the official construction demand for you. His fees for the full build (according to SIA rules) will be in the range of 8 - 11% though this can be negotiated depending on what you want them to do.

Do get firm offers for each stage of the build, so core build, bathrooms, kitchens, plumbing, electrics etc. Expect to pay around +-CHF 700 per cubic metre and a bit less (-30%) for the basement and a lot less for a garage or shed. This is Ticino so may be more elsewhere. However if you want expensive finishes, top of the range bathrooms / kitchen expect to pay more.

If you're financing your bank will first give you a construction loan which will carry a higher interest rate as the risk lies with them. Once finished and the building is handed over you can negotiate a lower rate, though this can often be agreed in advance.

One final advice. Go on site at least once a week as you check on the progress of the build.

It is NOT easy in comparison to other countries, the amount of paper work and loop holes you have to leap through are immense.
It is a mostly analog process meaning the amount of papers and permits you need will be very high.
We just went through a process of converting non-livable space to livable space, basically extending the house into the barn. This took about 1 year involving architects, surveyors, heating specialists and canton approval. We are now at the finish line.
The cost of a simple extension runs into about 30k in admin fees and taxes.

just to clarify, in some countries you might be able to do the process mostly yourself, in Switzerland forget about it - you need an architect

Just because the community allows something does not mean you can build it. We tried, in Wallis...beautiful sloping (expensive) sun terrace plot looking at the biggest mountains. Mayor loved us, loved our plans, the only two downslope neighbours loved us, surveys all done, poles went up, and then... the a$$hat above us (and looking straight over our roof, so he would have no impediment to his views) in a newly built IKEA box was able to stop the process. The mayor was incensed, but there was nothing he could do in Visp. After a year of wrangling (and this was 3 years into the project), we sold to a young couple who was willing to build a shed. We broke even, but just. Never again, and it contributed to our decision to move from CH.

hm, i know that there are terrible experiences possible, but in general I don't find Swiss building process something extraordinary, especially regarding the spatial context in Switzerland

- when building one has to comply to different laws and guidelines, complying to one rule doesn't mean you did comply to every rule
- having the mayor on your side doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, and I think this is very good
- the neighbour's rights (laws) should give equal rights to both sides
- usually if one builds strictly inside what is expected in that area, there are minimal problems. But often people just have wrong expectation and than look for the ways how to somehow bend those rules.
There is a chain of greedy participants in almost every step of building process, from some unknown historical owners, to sellers and neighbours, the investors and final buyers. Everyone thinks s/he should be the one to profit and s/he has the right to do it.

I read something similar in Schweiz. Everyone is for it, but one woman, with very deep pockets is against it. So long as she keeps finding objections, they process is halted. Seems to be the very definition of a vexatious litigant.

We couldn't affect the building of the apartment blocks near us. But we don't have deep pockets.

As for all Swiss questions - just depends.

It is much much easier to buy land in some areas than others. And the price will vary HUGELY too. Same for building restrictions. And also, make sure the land is 'constructible' as vast amounts are not. We own 2 large plots which are not (thank goodness).

How much money do you have at your disposal?

Are you connected? Or you a popular and well-liked figure of public interest (sport-personality, show-star, politician, industrial tycoon or pretty heiress) with good reputation?

Connections can be replaced by money, mind you, but only to a point.

Well, I think the question was settled long ago considering the original post was 2018.

ah - but it would be interesting to hear what happened from the OP

What happened is they left Switzerland last year

https://www.englishforum.ch/finance-...itzerland.html

and haven't been on the forum since.

Ah well- still would have been interesting to hear of their experience if they did try to find land to build.

But it is an interesting conversation to continue anyhow, OP or not OP.

Exactly. It can help someone in the future.

Who needs enemies if you have neighbors?

https://www.20min.ch/story/walliser-...e-913068876198