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Andreas Ingold (58) has run the largest Swiss property manager Livit for twelve years. In an interview with the “Handelszeitung” he warned of the serious consequences of the crisis of the crown: “The difficult times are still ahead, we can also expect waves of bankruptcies,” he told the newspaper.
You don’t think much about the policy proposals for crisis management in your industry. Strongly rejects the Corona rental exemption planned by Parliament. This stipulates that for commercial rentals up to CHF 20,000 per month, tenants only have to pay 40 percent of the rent during the period during the forced closure. The owners take over the remaining 60 percent.
Against a Corona rental exemption
“That is unacceptable,” he says in an interview. Regulations have already increased enormously in recent years. Instead, Ingold relies on tenant-landlord partnership agreements. “Practice shows that this is possible. We alone have already implemented around 800 solutions ”, says the CEO of Livit.
Livit is a subsidiary of Swiss Life and currently manages more than 180,000 properties and almost 3 million square meters of commercial space. “We received more than 2,200 requests for deferred rent and rent reduction from commercial and retail tenants,” says Ingold. Most of the owners were very helpful and gave up the rent for a month or two.
Trend towards a larger living space
But the crisis has not only had negative effects on the real estate industry: According to Ingold, the closure showed how important attractive living space is. Therefore, the living space as an oasis and comfort zone, as well as a place of retreat, will become important. “Based on the home office experience of the last three months, the trend toward larger apartments could be a realistic scenario, as could the growing appeal of living space in rural areas,” he adds.
Furthermore, the crown crisis gave the industry a boost to digitization: this “will continue to have a significant impact on our work environment, construction and users,” Ingold said. Digitization will also play an important role in Livit’s future. The property manager is currently working on a digital ecosystem that should start by the end of the year. There, owners, tenants and suppliers will come together on one platform. “If a tenant moves from Zurich to Basel, for example, we are interested in him moving back to an apartment in Basel that Livit looks after,” says the 58-year-old. (dvo)
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Digital tools are being used more and more in construction.
The blockade also had far-reaching consequences for the construction industry. Several works had to be closed because the rules of distance and hygiene could not be respected. According to the Swiss Master Builders Association (SBV), the crown crisis has driven digitization in construction. Technical aids like tablets, drones and other digital work equipment will soon be used as naturally in construction as the trowel. “It is our task as a professional association to constantly align our training and higher education, and therefore, in particular, the models of learning and career”, Matthias Engel (41), SBV media spokesman.
There are currently more than 19,000 job openings in the construction and real estate industries in Switzerland, as current figures from the company’s x28 employment radar study show. In the area of Building Information Modeling (BIM) alone, with which building data can be digitally modeled, combined and recorded, around 500 specialists are lacking, according to the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences. To counter the skilled worker shortage, the university will launch the new “Digital Construction” course in the fall. So far, it has invested around 200,000 francs in the new course. Must start with 25-30 students after semester break. (dvo)
