Guides
Tenancy law, buying and moving in Switzerland — explained plainly.
For renters
The rental dossier: what actually belongs in it
Forty people at a viewing is ordinary in Zurich. The agency rarely decides on the spot; it decides that evening, going through the dossiers one by one. This checklist sets out what is expected, what you can leave out, and what is better left in the drawer.
6 min readOrdering a debt-collection extract: cost, timing, pitfalls
No document holds up more applications than this one, usually because it was ordered too late or from the wrong office. The extract costs CHF 17, arrives within days and can be ordered online.
4 min readRental deposit: what Art. 257e CO allows and what it does not
The deposit is where too much is demanded most often, and what people argue about longest. The law is unusually clear all the same: three months’ rent at most, in an account in your name.
5 min readContesting the initial rent: 30 days, and how they run
If you take on a flat at a rent well above what the last tenant paid, you can contest the initial rent. The deadline is short, the procedure costs nothing, and in cantons that require the official form your position is strong.
6 min readGiving notice and leaving early: the replacement-tenant rule
Ordinary notice usually means three months to a customary date. If you want to go sooner, a suitable replacement tenant gets you out of the contract early, provided the formalities are right.
5 min readThe handover: the inspection report decides your deposit
The handover takes half an hour and settles whether you get your whole deposit back. What counts is what the report says, and what the landlord can still raise afterwards.
5 min readFor buyers
Affordability and equity: the two numbers that decide it
Whether a bank lends comes down to two calculations almost every time: twenty per cent equity, and a theoretical cost burden of roughly a third of gross income. Both are stricter than most people expect.
6 min readFixed or SARON: a question of risk, not of forecasting
The choice is usually discussed as a bet on where rates are going. It is not one. What matters is how much variation your budget absorbs, and how long you are willing to be tied in.
5 min readPension fund and pillar 3a for a home: withdrawal or pledge
Pension assets may be used for a home you live in yourself, either as an advance withdrawal or as a pledge. The two look alike and work out very differently for tax, for your pension and for risk cover.
6 min readProperty transfer tax: the same purchase, far dearer in another canton
Transfer tax is set by canton, sometimes by commune, and runs roughly from nothing to a little over three per cent of the price. Working it out at the notary’s office is working it out too late.
4 min readNotary and land register: when the property is actually yours
A signed purchase contract does not make you the owner yet. Ownership of land arises only on entry in the land register, and the contract is valid only if it was executed as a public deed.
5 min readFor landlords
Setting the market rent without exposing yourself
Set it too low and you lose money for years. Set it too high and you get a long vacancy, or a challenge to the initial rent. The same preparation avoids both.
5 min readThe mortgage reference rate and what it triggers for rent
The reference rate is the only interest rate that feeds straight through into Swiss tenancies. When it rises, rent may go up; when it falls, the tenant may ask for a reduction. The same rules apply in both directions, and either way the change bites only at the next termination date.
5 min readScreening dossiers: thoroughly, and still lawfully
You may check whether someone can carry the rent. You may not ask everything that would be interesting to know. The line is necessity, and in practice it gets crossed routinely.
5 min readA landlord’s duties: upkeep, service charges, access
Most disputes start not with the rent but with three everyday questions: who repairs what, what may be charged on, and when the landlord may enter.
5 min readMoving
The eight-week moving checklist
Moves rarely come unstuck on the lorry; they come unstuck on deadlines. Notice, registration, insurance changes and the handover all depend on one another. This list puts them in the order in which they fall due.
6 min readRegistering with your commune: deadlines, papers, fees
Registering at your new address is compulsory and time-limited. Miss it and you risk a fine, and you hold up everything that hangs off it: tax, health insurance, Serafe and your permit.
4 min readElectricity, internet and Serafe at the new address
Three sign-ups that work by quite different rules: electricity comes from the local utility, internet from whichever provider you choose, and the Serafe bill arrives by itself whether you get in touch or not.
4 min readHousehold contents and private liability insurance when you move
Both policies are tied to the address and the floor area. Fail to report the move and a claim may be cut back. And without private liability cover you will struggle to be given a flat in the first place.
4 min readThese articles set out Swiss law in general terms and are not a substitute for legal advice on an individual case. Cantonal rules differ. In a dispute, contact the rent conciliation authority or a lawyer.