QE Wohnen

Evaluation tools for the assessment of housing quality from a user perspective

Multi-unit residential rental housing is an important investment sector for institutional investors, but also for foundations, non-profit housing cooperatives, foundations, and private owners. Although such investments tie up large amounts of capital for decades, concepts of quality development and client/user satisfaction are only starting to be discussed in the Swiss rental housing market, partly, because in urban areas the demand for housing has exceeded the supply for decades. This is expected to change. How investors and management firms can adjust existing and future housing qualities to the increasingly divergent demands of different user groups, becomes an important question.

The goal of the project is to develop an evaluation tool aimed at quality development in the rental housing sector. The 3-tiered tool – “QE Wohnen” encompasses standardized evaluation instruments, a data base and an index-based comparative rating system. With this approach the specific characteristics of different housing complexes can be assessed in relation to subjective user preferences and demands as well as usage patterns of different tenant groups. Eight different housing complexes will be included as pilot studies in the project as a basis for developing a comparative rating. The data base is to be expanded as additional data from future evaluations become available.

The project is funded by leading investors in the Swiss housing market and supported by a grant from the Swiss Federal Commission of Innovation and Technology (KIT).