Homes for rent in Switzerland
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A flat to rent in Lausanne, a studio in Geneva, a terraced house near Fribourg or a parking space in Neuchâtel: flats, studios, houses and parking all sit in the same search, with French-speaking Switzerland first. Type in Sion, Nyon, Vevey, Montreux, Yverdon-les-Bains, Biel/Bienne, La Chaux-de-Fonds or Delémont, then filter by rent, number of rooms or floor area.
From first click to handing over the keys
Much of the rental stock in Romandie is run by letting agencies called régies. They pick tenants on paper, so a complete application sent early often counts for more than a good impression at the viewing.
- Put your file together: passport or residence permit, your last three payslips and a recent debt-collection extract (extrait des poursuites) from the office in the municipality where you live.
- View the flat, and if you like it, hand in the application form the same day.
- Read the lease together with the official initial-rent form (formule officielle). In cantons with a housing shortage, including Vaud, Geneva, Neuchâtel and Fribourg, landlords must use it, and it shows what the previous tenant paid. If the starting rent looks excessive, you can challenge it before the conciliation authority within 30 days of getting the keys.
- Pay the rent deposit (garantie de loyer), capped at three months' rent, into a blocked account in your name. A guarantee company can stand in for it in exchange for a yearly premium.
- Walk through the move-in inspection (état des lieux) with the régie and get every defect written down. That report is what your flat is compared against when you leave.
When the time comes to leave
Residential leases are normally ended in writing with three months' notice, to a local termination date that varies by canton. To leave sooner, you can put forward a solvent replacement tenant willing to take over the lease on the same terms.
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