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Moving is stressful enough. The housing shortage in Zurich and other cities is becoming a burden for more and more people.
Queues of people, outrageous offers of accommodation, fraudulent rip-off methods – those looking for accommodation in Swiss cities have to have a thick skin and a lot of patience.
However, the housing shortage is not to everyone’s disadvantage: the online platform Homegate offers the premium subscription “Mieter Plus” for 39.95 francs per month, with a three-month contract. This means that apartment seekers can contact advertisers three days before normal users. There are also advertisements that are only accessible to subscribers.
Criticism of the Homegate subscription
The “Tenant Plus” subscription has received criticism from the Zurich Tenants Association. Nicole Schweizer, co-head of legal advice, says: “The offer directly takes advantage of the distressed situation of tenants who are looking for an apartment. And yes, a two-class society is developing: There are people who can afford it. Others don’t.”
The Swiss Marketplace Group, to which Homegate belongs, denies the accusation: “Mieter Plus basically gives all those looking for an apartment an additional option in order to increase the chances of finding the right rental property, especially in regions with above-average demand.”
to act with caution
Good housing offers are rare. When it comes to tempting advertisements: be careful! This is shown by the example of a bright 3-room apartment in Zurich for 1,940 francs.
At first glance the advert looks normal. In response to the contact request, the apartment owner wrote: Since she emigrated to Spain, she could not show the apartment in person. Instead, you get the apartment in return for 3,880 francs. Time to think about it: just two days.
An attempted fraud that the city of Zurich is also officially warning about. You should never pay money without viewing the property and receiving a valid rental agreement. The operators should also be informed.
In the case of our example, the operator Homegate does not respond to repeated reports. The advertisement remains online. When asked, Homegate writes: “The advertisement has been comprehensively checked. In this specific case, however, the deactivation did not take place as intended in the process. We regret the mistake.” The advertisement is no longer online.
Previous tenants make staggering demands
Unnecessary financial hurdles can also stand in the way of getting an apartment. Previous tenants often impose conditions on those looking for an apartment: in return for introducing them to the landlord, they demand, for example, the purchase of furniture or the taking over of painted walls.
For example, a previous tenant in Dübendorf demands the purchase of two wardrobes and all the curtains in the apartment for 1,000 francs. If he refuses, he will not forward the interested parties’ contact details to the administration, he wrote in an email.
According to the tenants’ association, such an approach is extremely offensive because the previous tenant is taking advantage of an emergency situation. The best thing to do is to find the management or the property owner yourself and contact them directly, according to the tenants’ association.