Swiss Review / February 2022 / No.1 13 Beat Jost. “Hence, it made perfect sense for us to promote home ownership, not least because the village has a significant amount of unused property and building land at its disposal.” Concerns and misgivings Despite the settlement scheme having proved a success to date, not everyone in Albinen was pleased at first. News of the village’s unusual plan spread far beyond Switzerland. “People contacted us from all around the world,” says Jost, adding that much of the foreignmedia coverage was misleading – to the extent that people from abroad arrived in the village believing they could get free cash and an apartment for nothing on top. In viewof themany enquiries as well as the random visitorswandering aroundAlbinen, some villagers feared that the floodgates would open. The municipality therefore published a letter in various languages, explaining that only foreign nationals with the necessary residence permit would have access to the scheme. The furore seems to have died down since. But a new challenge awaits: Albinen no longer has its own school. “Eight out of ten queries that we receive frompeople considering amove to Albinen relate to this very issue,” says Jost. Any village school that the canton reopensmust be of aminimum size, which is why the municipality is looking at the possibility of establishing an alternative type of school that would also be accessible to children in the valley below. Cash incentives also elsewhere Zeneggen is situated around 40 kilometres fromAlbinen. Its village school remains open for now, but the upper grades risk being shut down due to a lack of pupils. AlthoughZeneggen has not seen the same depopulation as Albinen in recent years, most new residents have no children. Now the village is resorting to cash incentives like its counterpart. Every family that moves to Zeneggen will receive 3,934 francs per child. (The village postcode is 3934.) Fernando Heynen is a father of five and one of the village councillors in Zeneggen, hence he has a stake in trying both to save the school and to attract new residents. “If the school closes, it will be even harder to get young families to move here,” he says. Unlike Albinen, Zeneggen only has a small number of properties for sale at any one time. So tenants are the answer. The village is currently building a complex comprising rental apartments designed for families. We already have expressions of interest – and we hope to start paying out cash awards soon, says Heynen. Tiny house attracting attention Meanwhile, interest inAlbinen’s grant scheme continues unabated. In particular, the Biege family’s dwelling has pricked the curiosity of possible new residents. Pierre Biegewouldwelcome anyone moving in next door with their own tiny house, but there is no sign of this happening yet. Irrespective of this, he and hiswife are pleased to have moved to Albinen. The currently very wintry Albinen municipality, 1,300 metres above sea level, is particularly concerned about the future of its village school. Photo: Keystone
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