Originally Posted by
BlackPeter
I just said that high home ownership rate is not necessarily something desirable and the provided stats does support this.
Re tax - efficiency: I don't know the Swiss tax rules, but your first owner occupied home in Germany (with a lower home ownership - rate than NZ) is much more tax efficient than a house in NZ ever will be - in Germany you can even write off parts of your purchase price from your other income.
Tenants rights and tenure: Not sure its all about tenants rights, but yes, both countries (Switzerland and Germany) have a much more mature home-rental market. It is over there more difficult (but not impossible) to get rid of a tenant - as long as these behave appropriately (i.e. look after the rented property and don't trash it, don't threat the neighbours and comply with any additional tenancy requirements - pay the rent on time, follow the house rules: noise restrictions, cleaning of common areas, ...). On the other hand - most of the tenants in Germany or Switzerland would look anyway much better after their rental property than they would do here.
Some things go both ways - and I don't think its all about laws, this is about culture and respect for other peoples property.