Bern: Higher vacancy rates for apartments and commercial premises
In Bern, the vacancy rate has risen to 0.57 percent, and there are 440 vacant apartments. The count of working premises showed that 250 business premises with a total area of about 113,000 sqm are vacant.
As reported by the City of Bern, the vacancy census as of June 1, 2017, showed a vacancy rate of 0.57 percent, which is 0.11 points higher than the previous year. The number of vacant apartments rose from 348 to 440. However, 102 of the apartments vacant on the reporting date already had a lease or purchase agreement for a later date.
The vacancy rate mainly affects older residential properties: 144 of the total of 440 vacant apartments were built before 1947, while 262 date from the period from 1947 to 2014. Only 34 vacant apartments were recorded in buildings built in 2015 or later.
The rental price is less than CHF 1,000 for about 26 percent of vacant properties, between CHF 1,001 and 2,000 for 57.5 percent, and 15.5 percent cost more than CHF 2,000 per month.
Most vacant apartments are located in the district of Bümpliz-Oberbottigen, where 135 apartments are vacant (vacancy rate: 0.80%. This is followed by the Mattenhof-Weissenbühl district (0.62%) with 107 apartments and the Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde district with 83 apartments (0.60%). The fewest vacant apartments are in the districts of Breitenrain-Lorraine (58 apartments, 0.39%), Länggasse-Felsenau (38 apartments, 0.35%) and Innere Stadt (19 apartments, 0.66%).
250 business premises are empty, about half of them are offices
The count of vacant workspaces by Statistik Stadt Bern revealed that 250 business premises with a total area of around 113,000 sqm are vacant. While the number of vacant workspaces has increased by 68 premises compared to the previous year, however, the available space has decreased by a good 19,000 sqm. Eight locations with particularly large vacancies of 3,000 sqm or more reportedly account for about half of the total vacancies in the workspace sector.
Of the 250 properties recorded, 118 belong to the office and medical practice category with a total area of almost 70,000 sqm. 81 vacant properties are warehouses with a total area of almost 25,000 sqm, 21 are sales premises (3,300 sqm) and a further ten are workshop and manufacturing premises (7,100 sqm). Twelve commercial premises with a total area of 3,000 sqm have already been leased or sold for a date after the reporting date.
According to the census, the Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde district has the largest total amount of vacant workspace (52,000 sqm), followed by Bümpliz-Oberbottigen (20,000 sqm), Mattenhof- Weissenbühl (17,000 sqm), Innere Stadt (10,000 sqm) and Breitenrain-Lorraine (10,200 sqm). In the Länggasse-Felsenau district, just under 4,000 sqm are available for rent or purchase.
