Housing

Steps

Renting

1. Prepare your file: ID, residence permit or certificate, proof of income and, very often, an extract from the debt enforcement register (registre des poursuites; a certificate that there are no debts being enforced), ordered online or from the debt enforcement office.
2. Read the lease: parties, home and annexes (cellar, attic), duration (most often indefinite), notice period and termination dates, rent and charges (if not mentioned, charges are included in the rent), guarantee.
3. Check the official form for the initial rent if your canton requires it; it states the previous tenant's rent.
4. Pay the guarantee into a rent guarantee account in your name (never in cash to the landlord); it comes back to you with interest.
5. Do the move-in inspection in writing with the landlord, noting even small defects.
6. To leave, send your notice of termination by registered letter, signed by all signatories of the lease (and by your spouse or registered partner for a family home). If you leave outside the termination date, propose a solvent replacement tenant, otherwise you pay until the termination date.

Buying

1. Check your situation under the Lex Koller: domiciled in Switzerland with an EU/EFTA permit, you buy freely; your main residence at your place of domicile is in any case exempt from authorisation.
2. Without a domicile in Switzerland, a second home or holiday home can only be bought with cantonal authorisation, and only in the cases provided for by the canton's law (for example a second home in a place with which you have extremely close ties, or a holiday home within the canton's quota: art. 9 LFAIE).
3. Sign the deed with a notary and have the purchase entered in the land register; transfer duties and fees depend on the canton.

Documents

• ID, residence permit (or certificate of application submitted).
• Recent extract from the debt enforcement register.
• Payslips or employment contract.
• For a purchase without a domicile in Switzerland: application for authorisation or for a finding of non-liability to the cantonal authority (in Geneva: Département des institutions et du numérique).

Costs and timelines

• Guarantee: 3 months' rent at most for a home (art. 257e CO). The bank only releases it with the agreement of both parties or on a decision; if the landlord has made no claim in court or by enforcement within a year of the end of the lease, you can recover it alone.
• Termination: 3 months for the local customary date or, failing that, for the end of a lease quarter (art. 266c CO). A contract may provide for a longer period.
• Initial rent: challenge before the conciliation authority within 30 days of the handover of the home, if you signed it out of necessity or if the rent increased sharply compared with the previous one (art. 270 CO).
• Rent increase or notice of termination from the landlord: official form compulsory; 30 days to refer the matter to the conciliation authority (free of charge).
• Reference rate: 1.25% since 2 September 2025, unchanged at 2 September 2026. A fall in the rate may justify a request for a rent reduction.
• Transfer duties on purchase: set by each canton; they range from 1% to 3.3% of the price according to the AFC (state of legislation at 1 January 2026). Detail by canton, according to AFC documentation (state of legislation at 1 January 2022, the latest published): Geneva 3% of the price, with no additional rate (Geneva law on registration duties, art. 33 and 49); Vaud 2.2% for the canton, plus at most 1.1% for the commune; Zurich has no transfer tax as such, only fees (land register, authentication). Geneva, main residence: the sale duty is reduced by an amount indexed each year (CHF 20,924 in 2026) if the transaction does not exceed a ceiling that is also indexed (about CHF 1.394 million since 1 March 2026), provided you prove occupation within 2 years, then occupy the home for 3 years; no reduction for a second home (art. 8A of the same law). Your notary gives you the exact, up-to-date amount.

Common pitfalls

• Paying a guarantee of more than 3 months or paying it to the landlord in cash.
• Leaving without respecting the termination dates: without an accepted replacement tenant, you remain liable for the rent.
• Ignoring the official form: in Geneva (vacancy rate of 0.31% on 1 June 2026), in Zurich (0.52%) and in most Vaud districts (Lausanne, Nyon, Morges, Riviera…), it is compulsory for any new lease.
• Buying a second home before being domiciled in Switzerland without checking the Lex Koller: cantonal authorisation must be obtained before the purchase. Check the version of the law in force on Fedlex just before signing.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EFTA citizens: domiciled in Switzerland, they are not "persons abroad" within the meaning of the Lex Koller; not domiciled, they are.
• British citizens (Scots included): only those who benefit from the acquired rights of the 2019 agreement between Switzerland and the United Kingdom are treated like EU citizens; the others come under the regime for nationals of third States (right to settle).
• Proposed tightening of the Lex Koller (not in force): on 15 April 2026, the Federal Council put out for consultation, until 15 July 2026, a preliminary draft that would make the purchase of a home (main residence) by nationals of third States, outside the EU and EFTA, subject to authorisation and would reduce the quotas of holiday homes. It has not yet been adopted: the rule in force remains the one described above.
• Tenancy law is the same for everyone, whatever the nationality.