Number of unoccupied residential properties rises to 250

Every six months the canton’s housing department publishes statistics relating to the number of unoccupied residential properties in the canton. As of 1 June 2017, there were 250, most of them in the city of Zug.
 
An unoccupied residential property is defined as a flat or house, furnished or unfurnished, suitable for immediate occupation, either for sale or rent, but in which no one is currently living.
 
The figure of 250 means that the number of unoccupied residential properties in the canton is up by 54 since June 2016 and by 45 since last December. It also means that the number of empty properties is at its highest since 1998. Out of interest, of all these empty properties, 49 were for sale.
 
Viewed as a whole and in percentage terms, the amount of unoccupied residential property in the canton remains very low, just 0.43% as of June of this year, compared with 0.34% in 2016. As for 1998, 0.57% of residential properties were unoccupied.
 
What also needs to be taken into consideration, as Kurt Landis, the head of the cantonal housing department, pointed out, is that there are more than 1,400 residential properties currently under construction, with as many as 420 in the Ennetsee area alone. Most new properties currently on offer are in the city of Zug, Baar and Risch. Needless to say, the demand for housing in the canton is very high.
 
After the city of Zug with 91 unoccupied residential properties, the municipality with the second highest number is Cham, at 58, followed by Unterägeri with 32. The municipalities with the fewest unoccupied residential properties were Risch and Menzingen, both with two only.