Contents
Normal Homegate subscribers have had a disadvantage when looking for an apartment since April. This because of the new exclusive subscription.
The well-known housing platform Homegate has recently been drawing attention to its new, exclusive “Tenant+” subscription on social media, among other things. But the new paid search subscription causes irritation.
Does Homegate profit from the desperation of the searchers?
A Zurich SRF listener recently became aware of “Mieter+” via Instagram because a colleague was desperately looking for a new apartment. The new offer annoys him. The real estate platform is obviously trying to make a profit from the acute housing shortage. “You can contact advertisers three days in advance before the ad is available to everyone,” promises Homegate. Plus “access to 1000+ exclusive ads”.
Legend:
Anyone who pays gets certain advantages with Homegate.
Print screen Homegate
Specifically, subscribers to “Mieter+” get a three-day head start to contact certain private advertisers for a viewing appointment. This exclusivity costs 40 francs – per month. With a minimum term of three months, that makes 120 francs. The annual subscription costs 300 francs. However, the prices for the new offer are only visible after logging in to Homegate. Not very transparent.
The Zurich resident finds the offer unfair: “The housing shortage is great, advertisements are often only online for a few hours. Many apartments even disappear under the hand. This offer contributes to the fact that many people no longer have the opportunity to see these apartments,” he told the SRF consumer magazine “Espresso”. He suspects that the exclusive apartment ads will be offline again long before the “normal” Homegate subscribers can get in touch. Homegate is heating up the housing shortage even more and helping the wrong people, according to the listener.
I don’t think it’s fair that you want to rent apartments exclusively to people who are digital and can afford such a subscription.
Poorer people and single parents have even more disadvantages
“I don’t think it’s fair that you want to rent apartments exclusively to people who are digital and can afford such a subscription.” These are the people who need the least help. A single mother, on the other hand, has no money for such a subscription, says the SRF listener.
It is questionable whether the “Tenant+” subscription pays off in the long term. If at some point everyone has the premium subscription, the advantage for the subscribers will be small. Only Homegate would benefit.
Homegate sees no problem
At the request of “Espresso”, Homegate admits that its free subscribers have had a disadvantage since April. However, their statistics show that advertisements are online longer than just three days on average, so the new offer is not problematic. In addition, the time advantage only affects a small part of the advertisements.
Regarding the criticism that poorer people in particular now have even more disadvantages when looking for an apartment, Homegate says that an annual subscription costs just 85 centimes per day. The company also does not share the fear that only Homegate will benefit in the long term: “I can calm things down, it’s not that far and there are no signs of it,” says a spokesman.
It’s a very worrying development.
The Swiss tenants’ association sees nothing positive about the exclusive Homegate search subscription. Vice President Michael Töngi: “It is a very worrying development. Low-income people have even more trouble finding housing at all.”