Response of the PdA Aargau to two recent articles in the Aargauer Zeitung from December 10, 2025
In recent days, the Aargauer Zeitung has published two articles that, at first glance, seem to have little to do with each other:
One deals with the discussion about the imputed rental value and tax policy for homeowners, the other with the growing homelessness in the canton of Aargau.
However, a closer look reveals that both articles describe two sides of the same crisis.
Tax policy for property – austerity policy for people
In the article on imputed rental value, Aargau’s Finance Director Markus Dieth defends the existing tax practice, arguing that one must adhere to the law. He particularly criticizes the Social Democratic Party (SP), which is calling for a higher tax burden on homeownership.
This debate, however, remains strikingly one-sided:
It focuses almost exclusively on the concerns of property owners, on tax burdens, and on political majorities. Hardly any attention is paid to who systematically loses in this system:
Tenants, people without property, people without secure housing.
The imputed rental value is not a technical detail, but part of a fundamental decision: Homeownership is politically protected, while the housing shortage is treated as a marginal problem.
Homelessness: The result of political decisions
The second article makes it clear where this policy is leading.
Social services and aid organizations are sounding the alarm: In the canton of Aargau, there are increasing numbers of homeless people, while overnight accommodation is lacking or only being expanded in isolated areas.
AZ article EVP homeless
The political response remains defensive: They point to responsibilities, pilot projects, and federal boundaries. It is particularly telling that even minimal services – emergency shelters, low-threshold housing – are treated as extraordinary measures.
This is not a case of individual failure, but rather structural exclusion:
- rising rents
- precarious working conditions
- lack of protection against dismissal
- Social policy subject to austerity measures
Those who do not have access to property bear the full risk of the market.
Two articles, one reality
These two AZ articles together tell a clear story:
The canton protects assets – and manages poverty.
While tax issues for property owners immediately trigger fundamental political debates, homeless people are considered a socio-political problem that needs to be “cushioned” – not as a result of political decisions.
The perspective of the PdA Aargau
For us, it’s clear:
Housing is not a moral issue and not a question of individual merit. Housing is a class issue.
A policy that:
- Homeownership is tax-privileged
- leaves the housing market to profit
- and merely manages social hardship
This inevitably produces exclusion, insecurity, and homelessness.
We need the following in the canton of Aargau:
- a consistent public housing policy
- Protection against displacement
- real alternatives to the pure market principle
- and the courage to once again understand ownership and land as a social responsibility.
Our claim
The PdA Aargau does not want to conduct this debate on moral grounds, but rather on political ones.
Not about individual cases, but about structures.
Not about symptoms, but about causes.
Anyone discussing imputed rental value today cannot remain silent about homelessness.
And anyone who takes homelessness seriously must address the question of ownership.
Dominik Schrott
Party of Labour Aargau
