The cost of living and housing

Read the PDF edition (2 pages)

The most tangible constraint on the Geneva financial centre is housing. The canton is among the most densely populated in Switzerland, and its territory is bounded by the border and the lake. Its housing vacancy rate has remained below one per cent for decades, which keeps rents high and makes it difficult for staff arriving from abroad to settle.¹ International cost-of-living comparisons regularly place Geneva and Zurich among the most expensive cities in the world, ahead of Singapore and Hong Kong on some items and behind them on others.² The salaries paid in the financial centre partly offset this cost, but the gap with competing centres has narrowed, so that young professionals make comparisons.

This constraint has effects on competitiveness that the financial statistics do not show. An institution recruiting a specialist in London or Singapore must find that person housing, a school for the children and a job for the spouse, in a canton where all of this is scarce and expensive. Cross-border commuters, who live in France where housing is more accessible, provide a solution that competing centres do not have, but one that depends on the free movement of persons and on the agreements with France. The umbrella organisations of the financial centre have made housing and transport a theme of their dialogue with the cantonal authorities, whose planning decisions determine the centre’s capacity to accommodate newcomers.

Notes

Federal Office for Housing, press release of 9 September 2025 on the count of vacant dwellings at 1 June 2025 (bwo.admin.ch; Allnews, 9 September 2025): vacancy rate of 1.0% in Switzerland (48,455 vacant dwellings), falling for the fifth consecutive year; Geneva has the lowest rate in the country (0.34%), ahead of Zug (0.42%) and Zurich (0.48%); fifteen cantons are below 1%. ↩
Mercer, Cost of Living City Ranking 2024 (226 cities, data as of March 2024; mercer.com): Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich occupy the first three places, followed by Geneva (4th), Basel (5th), Berne (6th), New York (7th) and London (8th). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

English

Contact

Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

Get in touch →

The cost of living and housing

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?