Project Development

Pernessy Neighbourhood: An Exemplary Pilot Project (2/3)

In 2019, thirteen neighbourhood plans in Le Mont-sur-Lausanne were approved after almost four decades of discussions.

Unsurprisingly, the sudden availability of developable land attracted developers, particularly to neighbourhoods located close to infrastructure scheduled for early deployment.

Faced with the growing number of stakeholders involved, some areas quickly experienced land price inflation. As development conditions became increasingly uncertain, we made the strategic decision to withdraw from one of the first neighbourhood plans.

A Different Focus: The Potential of Pernessy

We were then introduced to a landowner in the Pernessy neighbourhood. It was a smaller development, certainly (30 to 40 homes), but also easier to structure:

3 property owners,
A shared willingness to move forward,
Above all, the possibility of securing complete land control.

The Contractual Innovation That Changed Everything

To avoid the usual deadlocks (one plot sold, others still on hold), we proposed a clear solution:

A single deed of sale, signed by all three owners,
A grouped sale to NewHome Services,
Full legal security across the entire site.

Simple in form, this agreement proved to be the key to unlocking the project. It enabled coherent management of the development without fragmentation of land ownership.

Another Challenge Remained: The Municipal Timeline

Under the municipality’s development programme, Pernessy was ranked in 10th position, meaning development was only expected within six to eight years.

This timetable was justified by concerns about school capacity saturation (40 homes = an estimated 40 children) and the relative distance from public transport, as the new bus line had not yet been built.

We therefore took the initiative to open discussions with the authorities and propose solutions based on concrete data.

Constructive and Realistic Dialogue

We demonstrated that:

Fewer than 18% of homes in Switzerland are occupied by more than three people.
In one of our similar developments in the Lausanne area (2019), only 16 children attended school for 40 homes.
Even after the future bus line enters service (scheduled for 2027), the distance to the nearest bus stops would remain the same (approximately 900 metres).

The Outcome: A Change of Direction

The municipality agreed that Pernessy could serve as a pilot project, provided it complied with an ambitious set of requirements.

In our next article, discover the challenges the NewHome Services team faced in bringing the Symbiose project in the Pernessy neighbourhood to life.