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The dispute over a Corona rental decree for shops is entering a new round. At the special session, the Council of States presented a compromise variant that provided small businesses with a maximum rent allocation of CHF 5,000 each for two months. This rule would apply to gross rentals of up to a maximum of CHF 8,000, which affects more than 80 percent of companies.
However, a tough fight for the proposal is scheduled in the Economic Commission of the National Council. In its motion, the National Council demanded that all the companies that closed due to the Corona crisis only had to pay 30 percent of their rent; the rest had to be paid by the owners. A uniform solution for all companies. Also for medium and large, who otherwise have to fight for a lease in court.
Rights against government interference
The Economic Commission advises the proposal of the Council of States in the afternoon, with several options.
Rejecting the initiative altogether and delegating it to the courts would be the favorite variant of SVP and FDP. “Today’s law already requires a contract adjustment for tenants who need it if circumstances fundamentally change after the contract is signed,” SVP Group leader Thomas Aeschi (41) told BLICK. “This would not justify such massive government intervention in all tenures, and therefore in property rights.” Tenants and landlords would have to find solutions tailored to the respective tenure. “Otherwise we will open Pandora’s box.”
Grünen-Rytz wants to suspend the proposal of the Council of States
Another option: the commission accepts the variant of the Council of States, under the motto “Better the sparrow in the hand than the dove in the ceiling”. The left in particular would have to jump over its own shadow. But also parts of the CVP, because their national and state councils completely disagree on this issue. Many national councilors are angered by the actions of the Council of States, which have changed the motion of the national council beyond recognition.
The Council of States solution is a toad that many just want to swallow in an emergency. “In principle, full tenure is wrong, I struggle with this idea,” says CVP national councilor Fabio Regazzi (57, TI).
In order not to be left empty-handed at the end, look for an exit in the center-left. Greens leader Regula Rytz (58, BE) wants to breathe new life into the negotiations and therefore calls for the Council of States commitment to be halted. “We have to start again and bring a solution to the table that the Council of States can also support,” says Rytz. The talks are still ongoing. “If we don’t start again, we can always go back to the Council of States solution,” Rytz said. Because: «A zero solution is out of the question. Otherwise, there will be a wave of bankruptcies.
CVP-Regazzi presents a new proposal
A third option would be to restart. This means that the Economic Commission of the National Council would have to present a new motion, because it can only accept or reject the commitment of the Council of States, but it cannot change it.
A suggestion for restart comes from CVP. Fabio Regazzi submitted a request based on the original variant of the National Council. You want to resume the 70 percent share in the landlord and 30 percent in the tenant, but you set an upper limit.
“The regulation would apply to gross rents of up to a maximum of CHF 20,000,” says Regazzi. “Also, I would like to provide an opt-out clause for rental owners between 15,000 and 20,000 if they disagree with the distribution.” It also provides a hardship fund for homeowners.
However, the talks are still going on and things may change until the afternoon. “At best, I will adjust my applications,” said Regazzi. “But we have to find a way out of the dead end.”
SP-Badran considers that the loss of the rent is bearable
SP National Councilor Jacqueline Badran (58, ZH) is also vehemently committed to such a restart. “This is how we avoid an avalanche of processes,” she is convinced. In court, tenants would have a good chance of even being exempted from 80 to 100 percent of the rent. “The National Council proposal is already a balanced and fair compromise,” Badran said. “All major industry associations are behind this solution.”
For homeowners, according to Badran, the flaw can also be addressed, because this is minimal. “In most commercial buildings, stores are on the ground floor, with office space and apartments above them, so owners don’t have a significant loss of rent due to this mixed use.”
She estimates that up to a fifth of the rents are affected by the tenant’s rent. And it was limited to two months. “Looking all year, we are still around 2 percent loss of rent, which landlords would have to bear. It is still a joke that we are still discussing it.
