Public land must provide lasting support for affordable homes

These proposals concern land-policy decisions and housing support. They require explicit public choices, funding and scrutiny. The Party does not present a particular communal model as a duty already applying throughout Switzerland. It advocates an approach to be implemented through the appropriate public instruments.

Preserve public capacity to act

Housing pressure is not simply a question of building numbers. It involves access to land, its value and its assigned uses. The PCP calls on authorities to establish a strategy for their sites: future needs, availability, infrastructure and opportunities for non-profit housing. Individual decisions must be placed within this wider view.

The Party favours retaining public land where this secures a lasting social purpose. A sale must be assessed against both immediate revenue and the capacity to act that is lost. The decision should set out alternatives, financial consequences and guarantees on use. Democratic debate needs this information before land is irreversibly committed.

Define the housing the authority intends to obtain

A general construction target is insufficient. The authority must specify dwelling types, complete costs, accessibility and connections with transport and services. The Federal Office for Housing’s toolkit for towns and communes presents existing instruments. The PCP proposes using them within a coherent policy, according to the relevant powers and applicable rules.

The choice of operator must begin with the intended outcome. The Party supports public and non-profit provision capable of maintaining affordable rents. Conditions should be verifiable from allocation, without depending solely on the beneficiary’s future goodwill. The social use of the land must remain identifiable after changes in finance or management.

Make the land cost compatible with the mission

Retaining land while imposing an excessive ground rent can undermine affordability. The PCP calls for transparent accounts connecting the land contribution with rents and the project’s financial balance. The economic value of the benefit must be known, along with the duration of the obligations obtained in return.

The Party does not advocate an opaque transfer of resources. It advocates an explicit and accountable public use. Ground rent and its adjustment must permit maintenance, building quality and reasonable financing. Review clauses should be clear, so an unforeseen increase does not cancel the social effect of the original decision a few years later.

Organise duration and the property’s return

Land policy must anticipate renewal, conversion and the end of agreements. Authority and operator must know their responsibilities for maintenance, building value and arrangements for return or extension. Without predictability, investment can be postponed and costs shifted to residents or public budgets.

The PCP calls for agreements containing a monitoring timetable and regular financial information. Essential conditions must survive management changes. Failure must be addressed without abandoning the housing objective. Correction mechanisms and responsibilities should be defined before difficulty occurs, with particular attention to continuity of occupation.

Allocate resources through understandable rules

Public sites are limited. Allocation should follow published criteria: offer quality, finance, rents, duration of social benefit, maintenance and delivery capability. The PCP calls for comparisons that explain trade-offs. The price offered cannot be the sole measure of a project’s public value.

Residents must also know the access rules for supported homes. Income requirements where relevant, priorities, timescales and application handling must be understandable. Collective scrutiny concerns rules and outcomes; it does not require exposing personal files. Transparency must support equal access while protecting people and their private lives.

Connect housing with local services

A land project creates more than flats. It generates needs for transport, schools, care and shared space. The Party calls for these matters to be studied early, rather than discovering their funding implications after delivery. Densification must also preserve suitable living conditions and shared use of space.

Coordination should involve the responsible services and residents. Small communes need access to shared technical expertise. The PCP supports cooperation between authorities that strengthens bargaining and delivery capacity without removing democratic institutions’ decisions over objectives and financial commitments.

Scrutinise the benefit over time

Assessment must follow complete rents, continuing access conditions, building quality and public contributions. The Party calls for regular publication proportionate to project size. A review must be able to trigger correction when the mission is not fulfilled.

Public land thus becomes part of an economy directed towards use. It secures a share of supply, retains an instrument for the future and makes collective effort last. For the PCP, the test is residents’ actual ability to obtain a good home close to services and compatible with their incomes.