Glossary

Renovation fund

The renovation fund is a financial reserve built up by the co-owners of a building held in propriété par étages (PPE), or condominium ownership. It is used to finance maintenance and renovation work on the common parts: roof, façades, lift, heating, stairwell.

Its creation is decided by the co-owners' meeting, and its rules are generally set out in the PPE regulations. Each co-owner contributes through regular payments, calculated according to their share of the building. The fund belongs to the community of co-owners, not to each of them individually.

When a property is sold, the seller does not recover their share: it remains attached to the unit and benefits the buyer. Before buying a PPE flat, it is therefore useful to check the amount in the fund and the work planned. A well-funded reserve limits the risk of large calls for funds after the purchase. Depending on the canton, contributions may be tax-deductible.

The full glossary⁠

Glossary

Home ownership promotion scheme (Encouragement à la propriété du logement, EPL)

A Swiss legal scheme that allows pension assets to be used to acquire a home for the insured person's own use. It covers the purchase or construction of a home, the repayment of a mortgage…

Glossary
Affordability

A bank check intended to ensure that the borrower can sustainably bear the costs associated with the property, including if interest rates rise. The calculation adds together mortgage…

Glossary
Amortization

The gradual repayment of mortgage debt. In Switzerland, only the second mortgage, which represents the portion of the loan exceeding two-thirds of the property’s lending value, must be…

Glossary
Loan-to-value ratio

The ratio between the mortgage amount and the lending value used by the bank, expressed as a percentage. For an owner-occupied home, Swiss lenders generally finance up to 80% of this…

Glossary
Usufruct

Usufruct is the right to use a property that belongs to another person and to receive the income from it. For real estate, the usufructuary may live in the property or let it and collect the…

Glossary
Imputed rental value

The imputed rental value is a notional income that owners who live in their own home must declare for tax purposes. It corresponds to the rent they could obtain if they let their property…

Glossary