The equation looks attractive: on one side, hundreds of thousands of square metres of vacant offices. On the other, a worsening housing shortage. So would it be enough to convert the former to solve the latter? In the cantons of Geneva and Vaud, the reality is considerably more complex, and conversion remains marginal today.
Real but very partial potential
The figures seem to argue for optimism: around 315’000 m² of vacant offices in Geneva, 90’000 m² in the canton of Vaud. With residential vacancy rates at historic lows, the theoretical potential is tempting. On the ground, however, only a fraction of this floor space can actually be converted. And the obstacles are numerous.
Why converting is harder than it seems
The first obstacle is economic. Residential rents, regulated by law, are often lower than freely negotiated office rents. Add to this high conversion costs, which in the most complex cases can approach those of a rebuild, and the question of profitability quickly becomes central. In some configurations, converting an office asset into housing can literally destroy its value.
Technical constraints come next. An office building was not designed to be lived in: wet rooms have to be created from scratch, building services rethought, natural light is often insufficient, and open-plan floors have to be entirely redistributed.
The regulatory framework adds a further layer of complexity, particularly in Geneva: lengthy permit processes, high energy requirements, rent restrictions. Uncertainty over timescales alone can tip the economic balance of a project.
Finally, location remains a decisive criterion that is too often underestimated. Offices located in single-use zones, exposed to noise or simply in surroundings poorly suited to daily life will not become attractive housing, whatever the conversion efforts.
An opportunistic approach, not a mass solution
Converting offices into housing is not an illusion. Nor is it a systemic solution to the housing crisis. It is a niche market, relevant in well-targeted cases: permanently obsolete offices, areas undergoing change, assets whose layout allows intelligent repositioning.
What sets successful projects apart from the others? The ability to identify, very early on, the buildings that can genuinely be converted, and to rule out the others quickly.
Conclusion
More than the square metres available, it is the square metres that can be converted that count. And telling them apart takes far more than a market analysis: it demands a detailed technical reading of the building, control of conversion costs and a realistic view of value creation.
In this type of operation, the difference is made well before the works begin: in the quality of the initial diagnosis.
The expert’s viewpoint
Converting offices into housing interests us, but it leaves no room for approximation. Our conviction: the key to success lies not in reading the market, but in a detailed technical understanding of buildings.
It is this expertise, in construction, renovation and feasibility, that allows us to assess concretely what an asset can become, to anticipate structural constraints and to control timescales. Between a theoretical opportunity and its real feasibility on the ground, the difference is often considerable. Our role is precisely to measure it before our clients commit.