Can I Get a Mortgage in Switzerland as a Foreign Buyer?

What’s important to understand here is that buying a property in Switzerland doesn't grant you any right to live there. This may be surprising, but even once you own a Swiss property outright, as a non-resident you’re bound by the Schengen 90-in-180-day rule, and the property can only be used as a genuine holiday home, rather than becoming your full-time residence. A common mistake that foreign buyers make is conflating ownership and residency systems, while in reality they’re separate things.

What determines your buying position is your permit status. Here’s how that works:

C Permit

Swiss nationals and EU/EFTA or non-EU/EFTA nationals with a C permit can buy property with no authorisation needed.

EU/EFTA B Permit

EU/EFTA nationals with a B permit face no restrictions either, provided they're genuinely and legally resident in Switzerland. They're not subject to Lex Koller (more on this shortly), so no authorisation is required, even for a holiday home, though Lex Weber still applies (we'll explain this in more detail too). Cross-border commuters and EU/EFTA nationals who aren't actually residents don't get this exemption.

Non-EU/EFTA B Permit

Non-EU/EFTA nationals holding a Swiss B permit can generally buy a primary residence at their registered address without authorisation, but can't also acquire a holiday home elsewhere in Switzerland once they do. Please note: as of April 2026, the Federal Council has been in consultation to tighten Lex Koller further, and if the draft becomes law, it would remove this exemption, requiring authorisation even for a primary residence, plus an obligation to sell within two years if the owner later moves away. Nothing is settled yet, but buyers in this category have a stronger reason than most to move before any change takes effect.

Everyone else

Anyone without a Swiss residence permit is classed as a ‘person abroad’ and faces restrictive conditions under Lex Koller.

Lex Koller: The law that shapes everything

Lex Koller, formerly known as the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad, exists to prevent speculative buying and to protect Swiss housing stock from being absorbed by foreign capital. And if you’re an international buyer in Switzerland, it’s a key law to understand.

If - under the Lex Koller law - you’re classed as a ‘person abroad ’, then you’ll need cantonal authorisation to buy a property. These authorisations are capped, with a nationwide quota of around 1,500 holiday-home permits a year allocated across cantons. The Valais canton receives one of the largest allocations, and purchases are mostly limited to such designated tourist zones. Zurich and Geneva get no quota at all, and within Valais, Zermatt receives none either. In Verbier and Crans-Montana, every Steiger&Cie Sotheby’s International Realty property falls within designated tourist zones.

One thing to note is that the Federal Council’s Lex Koller consultation includes a proposal for reduced cantonal quotas. As mentioned above, nothing has been settled, but this is a case for moving sooner rather than later if you’re keen to purchase some Swiss alpine property.

Lex Koller dictates property size limits too: a maximum net habitable living space of 200 square metres, which can sometimes be extended to 250 square metres, and a maximum plot area of 1,000 square metres.

Please note that this isn’t the figure that agents usually advertise. Gross sales surfaces usually include balconies and terraces, which don’t count towards the limit, so a property advertised at over 200 square metres may still qualify under Lex Koller once its net habitable area has been properly calculated.

There’s also a minimum holding period before resale under this law. This is usually five years, so worth pondering if you’re considering a medium-term hold.

Lex Weber

Then we come to Lex Weber, a law that caps secondary residences at 20% of any municipality’s housing stock. It’s been a long time since Verbier, Zermatt and Crans-Montana passed that percentage, which means no new holiday homes can be built there. New homes can still be built, but only as primary residences, whose owners must become local taxpayers. So the only secondary homes available in these resorts are those with a valid building permit prior to 11 March 2012, a fixed rather than growing pool of properties.

One notable exception is serviced apartments that are classified as tourist residences. These can still be built even in capped municipalities as they’re designed for tourist rental. This changes how a bank finances them. Instead of lending to you as an owner-occupier, it lends against the property as a commercial, income-generating asset, usually capping borrowing at 50-60% of the value.

Zermatt has its own restrictive rules where buying eligibility depends on residency status, as well as the property’s legal classification. This means specialist advice is vital if you have your eye on this popular resort.

Swiss mortgages for foreign buyers: How lending actually works

Swiss residents buying a primary home need a minimum 20% deposit, but when it comes to holiday homes, that figure is considerably higher. UBS's guidance puts the minimum equity requirement at 40% for a vacation property, and foreign buyers may even have to fund up to half the purchase price themselves. This is quite different to buying a property in the UK, so this needs to be understood early on in the process.

The next thing to know is that Swiss mortgages come in two tranches. The first tranche covers up to two-thirds of the value of the property for a primary residence, or up to 60% (typically) for holiday homes and non-resident buyers, and remains interest-only indefinitely. The second tranche - up to 80% for primary residences - must be amortised within roughly 15 years or by retirement age, whichever comes first. As this is an unfamiliar structure to British buyers, it’s worth discussing with an adviser.

Mortgage affordability is assessed against a notional stress-test interest rate of around 5%. Current rates in Switzerland are way below that, with 10-year fixed rates at around 2% (Comparis’s benchmark rate was 2.07% at the end of September 2026), but the gap exists to make sure you can afford the mortgage if rates climb. Total housing costs - interest, maintenance and second-tranche amortisation - need to stay within around one third of gross income.

Mortgage interest rates for foreign buyers broadly track those of residents, though there is sometimes a modest non-resident premium. And when choosing a mortgage, you can select from a fixed rate or a SARON deal (the variable rate that replaced LIBOR in 2022).

If your wealth is in sterling, dollars or euros, it’s worth noting that currency movement can have a significant effect on cost. A 5-10% swing on a multi-million franc property, for instance, can be meaningful. Forward contracts and Lombard lending, borrowing against a pledged investment portfolio, can help manage this exposure.

You usually need cantonal authorisation before a bank will finalise lending, so this is worth looking at early. As part of the buying process, you should also expect thorough anti-money laundering and source-of-funds checks, covering income, asset sales and investments.

How to buy a house in Switzerland as a foreign buyer: Step by step

If this all sounds a bit complicated, let’s break buying a property in Switzerland down into clear steps:

1. Confirm eligibility and permit status before viewing anything: Your status is key to determining everything that follows.
2. Secure mortgage pre-approval: Sellers in Switzerland demand certainty, and if you’re a buyer without financing established, you’re likely to lose out.
3. Find the property and agree on terms: An agent embedded in the local market is your best bet, as many properties never even reach a public listing.
4. Sign a reservation agreement and pay a deposit: This is typically 5-10% of the purchase price and is transferred into a notary's escrow account.
5. Apply for Lex Koller authorisation: Where required, this can be done through a notary. This application runs alongside due diligence - verifying the title at the land registry, confirming the property's use and Lex Weber classification match what's been represented, and checking the permit timeline. Swiss law also requires a valid electrical safety inspection, updated if the existing one is more than five years old.
6. Sign the notarial purchase deed: You need to do this through a licensed public notary.
7. Pay the balance and associated fees
8. Land-registry transfer and formal ownership

Timelines for this process vary depending on your profile. EU/EFTA nationals and C permit holders who don't need authorisation can complete in 6-12 weeks, whereas non-residents who are subject to Lex Koller should expect a wait of 4-6 months. Delays are most commonly caused by incomplete financial documentation, so it’s worth getting your records in order early on.

Costs and taxes to budget for

When buying a Swiss property, it’s important to understand that typical transaction costs in Valais - the canton that’s home to Verbier, Zermatt and Crans-Montana - are around 2.5-3% of the purchase price, though this can be higher in other cantons. This covers notary fees, land registry fees and transfer tax. The estate agent’s commission is paid by the seller, not the buyer.

It’s also worth knowing that, even for non-residents, wealth tax applies to Swiss real estate. And it can be significant on a multi-million-franc property. This cost can be surprising for foreign buyers from countries like the UK, where no equivalent exists. When it comes to capital gains tax, this varies from one canton to the next. It’s generally higher for shorter holds, and it aligns with the Lex Koller five-year minimum.

One point to note is that in a 2025 referendum, Swiss voters approved the abolition of the Eigenmietwert - the notional rental value taxed as income even when a property is never rented out. The Federal Council confirmed on 1 April 2026 that the reform will take effect on 1 January 2029, after a transition running to the end of 2028. But how could this affect foreign buyers?

• Alongside the notional income, owners also lose the right to deduct mortgage interest and renovation costs against Swiss tax, except for a small, temporary allowance for first-time buyers
• For a lightly financed, well-maintained property, this is a straightforward win, but for a heavily mortgaged purchase or an older chalet needing work, it's worth modelling both ways with a Swiss tax adviser before completing

Common pitfalls foreign buyers should avoid

There are a number of mistakes foreign buyers often make when looking to buy a Swiss property. The most common are:

• Falling in love with a property before checking permit eligibility: Not every alpine property is available to every buyer
• Underestimating total transaction costs: Budget around 3% on top of the purchase price in Valais
• Overlooking currency exposure: A 5-10% franc movement on a multi-million franc purchase is meaningful
• Leaving Swiss financing until late: Sellers in prime resorts expect certainty, and buyers without it lose out
• Forgetting the five-year resale restriction: This applies to Lex Koller purchases
• Assuming renovation rights come with the purchase: Secondary homes in capped municipalities face strict limits on what can be altered under Lex Weber

These pitfalls are certainly worth understanding, but with the right specialists, every one of them can be avoided.

Buy with confidence: Steiger&Cie Sotheby's International Realty

At Steiger&Cie Sotheby’s International Realty, we’ve spent decades working exclusively in Verbier, Zermatt and Crans-Montana. Verbier and Crans-Montana are prime Valais zones where non-residents can buy holiday homes under Lex Koller. Zermatt, which has no quota, has its own rules, and we can guide you through the options open to you there.

The insight we’ve gained over this time means we can guide you through the whole purchase process, from eligibility assessment and property search right through to notarial signing and registration. The Lex Koller application has to be handled by a notary, and due diligence requires independent legal counsel, but we can coordinate every party involved, drawing on trusted legal advisers, tax specialists and private bankers as necessary. 

It’s also worth noting that many of our properties are shared with our select network before they’re listed more widely - a real benefit in a fixed pool of properties.

If you’re interested in buying property in the Swiss Alps, get in touch, and we’ll explore your circumstances in a confidential, obligation-free consultation.

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