For urban housing policy, knowledge of the motivations and the situation of those moving in and out is an important piece of information. For this reason, a corresponding survey was carried out in autumn 2016 by Stadtentwicklung Zürich in cooperation with the Population Office, as in previous years.

In the personal registration offices, a sample of the movers was asked about the reasons for a change of residence. The questionnaires, which have remained identical over time, allow comparison with the previous surveys of 2012, 2009 and 2005.

Main reasons for moving in and out

The questionnaire determined which reason for moving in and out was the most important (hereinafter referred to as the main reason). Only one mention was possible.

By far the most frequently mentioned main reason for immigration in 2016 was the change of profession, followed by training/further education. Both main reasons for moving in have lost some of their importance since 2012. On the other hand, city life/living environment and family reasons have become more important again.

The main motives for moving out most frequently cited by respondents are reasons for housing and family reasons, followed by career changes. Family reasons and career changes have remained significantly stable since 2012, while housing reasons are again mentioned less frequently.

Reasons for moving in detail

In addition to the main motivations for the move, the questionnaire specified detailed reasons for the move and for the move (20 or 19 answer categories). For each reason, it had to be stated whether it was considered important or not important, whereby multiple answers were possible. On average, the respondents gave five and the moveaways almost four reasons that were important for your relocation decision.

Among the detailed reasons for moving in, 71% of the mentions are the statement at the top that they deliberately wanted to move to the city. Around half cited a job change, training and further education, shorter commutes, the living environment or a nice rental apartment that had been found in the city as reasons for moving in. Around 40% mentioned the proximity to cultural institutions or the move in with a partner, and about a third the departure from the parents or the dissolution of the partnership.

Compared to 2012, a beautiful rental apartment found in the city of Zurich, the living environment and the general political situation in the city have clearly gained in importance as reasons for moving in.

Reasons for leaving in detail

Among the detailed reasons for moving away, the housing supply stands out: 32% of respondents said they had not found any apartment they considered affordable, and 31% said they had not found a suitable apartment in the city. 38% of those surveyed cited having found a nice apartment outside the city as a reason to leave. Job changes (31%), moving in with the partner (29%), the living environment (24%), a shorter commute (24%) and training/further education (23%) were also frequently cited as reasons for leaving. Compared to 2012, training and further education in particular have become much more important as reasons for leaving.

Reasons for entry and departure in comparison

If you relate the reasons for entry and departure, there are some abnormalities. A comparison of the main reasons shows significantly more housing and family reasons for moving away than for moving in. Conversely , career changes, training/further education and city life/living environment are cited significantly more often as the main reasons for moving in than for moving away. On the one hand, this has to do with the proximity of the core city to jobs and training places, on the other hand, it expresses the unbroken attractiveness of the city.

In terms of detailed motivations, there are many more newcomers who consciously want to live in the city than there are those who move away who no longer want to live in the city. Only in the case of immigrants is the proximity to cultural institutions relevant. The shorter commute to work also speaks much more often for moving into the city than for moving away. Likewise, moving out of the parental household or dissolving a partnership are much more often a reason to move to the city of Zurich than to leave it. This may be due to the fact that in appropriate life situations one generally seeks the more diverse possibilities of the big city, the often better social infrastructure and advice or the proximity to training institutions. The general political climate is a reason for significantly more people to move to the city of Zurich than to move away from it (in this context, it should also be noted that tax reasons are practically never given as a trigger for the departure ). In contrast to 2012, finding a nice rental apartment again speaks much more often for an influx into the city of Zurich than for a move.  On the other hand, significantly more people moving away than those moving state as a reason for moving that they have not found an apartment at their previous place of residence that was judged to be suitable or payable.

House hunting

Of the newcomers, seven out of eight respondents (similar to the past) were looking for an apartment, especially in the city itself , and thus hardly considered any other alternatives. This is a clear sign of the continuing high attractiveness of the city of Zurich as a residential location and the popularity of the core city.

43% of the newcomers found the search for a suitable apartment rather difficult. This is significantly less than in 2012 (56%), which indicates a certain relaxation in the housing market. The search for accommodation is the most difficult for those newcomers who come to the city from abroad. In addition, the search is more difficult for individuals and for households with children than for couples without children.

46% of those moving away – similar to 2012 – had first tried to find an apartment in the city of Zurich when they were looking for an apartment. Those who did not search in the city probably include, on the one hand, in particular the almost third of those surveyed who moved further away (i.e. not to the canton of Zurich or the neighbouring cantons), and on the other hand, to those persons who did not consider the search in the city of Zurich to be useful for other reasons.

With regard to "involuntary departures" from the city, the 46% of those moving away who had previously sought an apartment in the city of Zurich are of interest. These were investigated with another question: The people who had previously tried to find an apartment in the city of Zurich were asked why they had not found a suitable apartment. Of these people, 82% said that apartments in the city of Zurich were too expensive (89% in 2012 and 79% in 2009). A quarter of this group of people moving away also cited the lack of apartment size, one fifth the lack of outdoor space of the apartments as a reason for moving away.

Termination of the apartment

97% of the immigrants surveyed and 94% of those who moved away had terminated their apartment themselves before moving. After an increase in 2012, the proportion of dismissals by the landlords fell slightly again. This proportion remained roughly constant among the newcomers.

Differences between immigrants from Germany and abroad

The main reason given by people from abroad is significantly more likely to be a career change (63%) and training and further education (62%) than for immigrants from Switzerland (44% and 38% respectively). Among newcomers from Switzerland, city life/living environment (26%) and housing reasons (5%) are comparatively more important than for those moving from abroad; in the case of the latter, these reasons are practically never mentioned. It is also striking that newcomers from abroad often rated the search for accommodation as relatively difficult (53%) than those moving from Switzerland (37%).