Buying Within the Lex Koller Quota

Buying Within the Lex Koller Quota

A practical guide to the permit process in Valais and Graubünden

The Lex Koller permit process is the practical hurdle behind everything our first two articles in this series covered. Our first article explained what the 2026 Lex Koller reform proposes. Our second looked at the data and showed exactly where the quota system shapes prices, above all in Valais and Graubünden. This third article is for anyone who has read those two and is now asking a more immediate question. If I want to buy a holiday home in Verbier, Crans Montana, St Moritz or Davos, what does the process actually involve, and where do buyers most often trip up.

What follows is not legal advice, every file has its own detail and our advisory team reviews each one individually, but it is a clear walk through the mechanics, written for buyers who are new to the Swiss system.

Step One: Confirm You Actually Need a Permit

Not every foreign buyer needs a Lex Koller permit. EU and EFTA nationals resident in Switzerland can generally buy a primary home freely, and anyone with a C settlement permit is treated like a Swiss citizen for property purposes. The rule applies mainly to buyers without Swiss residence who want a holiday home, plus a handful of other defined categories.

When a sale is submitted, the land registry does a first check. If the exemption is obvious, the deal proceeds without further review. If it is not, or if the plot exceeds 3000 square metres, the file is referred to the cantonal permit authority, the Bewilligungsbehörde, which is the body that actually decides whether a permit can be granted and on what conditions.

Step Two: Know the Numbers Before You Shop

Valais holds the largest annual allocation in the country, 330 permits. Graubünden follows with 290. In the most detailed year with published figures, Valais used about 233 of its permits and Graubünden about 209, both close to three quarters of capacity. That is not a fixed rule though. During the 2011 downturn, demand in Graubünden fell so far that the canton’s quota went largely unused for a period. During the boom years of the mid 2000s, Valais alone reportedly had a waiting list of several hundred applicants who missed out in a single year.

The lesson for a buyer is simple. Quota usage tracks the wider market. In a strong year, applying late can mean waiting for the following year’s allocation. Starting the permit process early, ideally as soon as a property is identified rather than after a purchase agreement is signed, gives the widest margin.

Step Three: Stay Within the Size Limits

Federal rules set a standard net living area cap of 200 square metres and a land area cap of 1000 square metres for a holiday home permit. Buyers with a documented need, a larger family, for instance, can be granted up to 250 square metres of living area and 1500 square metres of land without much additional friction. Above that, approval becomes considerably harder and case specific. Anyone shopping for a large chalet in Verbier or a generous plot above St Moritz should factor this in from the start, not after falling in love with a listing.

Step Four: Understand the Usage Condition

A Lex Koller holiday home permit comes with a standing condition. The owner must be able to use the property personally at any time. Letting it out full time, effectively running it as a rental investment, is not permitted. Periodic or seasonal rental during the weeks the owner is not using it is allowed, which is exactly how most owners in Verbier or the Engadin actually use their properties, a mix of personal weeks and managed rental weeks. It is a useful middle ground, but the personal use right has to remain real, not just on paper.

Step Five: Structure the Purchase Agreement Around the Permit

In practice, the notarised purchase agreement is signed subject to a suspensive condition, the granting of the Lex Koller permit. Ownership is not transferred, and the land registry entry is not finalised, until that condition is met. Processing time varies with the canton and the season, but buyers should plan for it to run from several weeks to a few months, not days. This is worth building into any timeline for financing, renovation plans or a target move in date.

What Can Go Wrong

Most rejected or delayed files share a small set of causes. The property exceeds the size caps without a documented justification. The buyer or their advisor tries to structure the purchase through a company or trust that does not meet the personal use requirement. The application arrives late in a strong year, after the cantonal quota is already spoken for. Or the buyer, perhaps without realising it, plans to rent the property out full time rather than use it personally, which is incompatible with the permit condition from the outset. Each of these is avoidable with the right advice before an offer is made, not after.