Apparently my building will have scaffolding put around it for 3 months this year and we will have limited access to our balcony (which at 15 m^2 is basically another room for us in the warmer months). Does anyone have experience in getting money back from the landlord to compensate for this type of thing? Our landlord is one of the big Swiss insurance companies.
1 Like
You should be able to get a reduction of around 10% on your rent during the renovation.
2 Likes
…and expect a rent increment of more than that when their job is finished.
Yes I have done before and got 20% compensation for the period of work. Basically you should write a letter to your regie (with registered post) and officially demand it.
I recommend it to send the letter sometime after the work starts. So first see if they voluntarily offer any reduction. In my case, I waited until the end of the work to document the exact duration. I also had documented the impact it created to living conditions with photos (lack of light, build up of dust, blocked elevator access etc) which should be compensated. So make sure to take photos during the work.
Go for it, they will not be increasing your rent for a work done outside, it’s your right.
2 Likes
That is encouraging.
Are you sure that they won’t (or can’t) eventually increase our rent for external renovations?
It is very unlikely to increase rent if there is no direct impact to your living conditions. Generally rent increase is possible (only possible) if they add new amenities (like fitness room, swimming pool) or extend your living space. There has to be significant improvement to your living standards.
Generally outside renovation is for pure paint, and roof protection. So it’s very hard to prove if they dramatically increased your living condition vs. a few years ago. But of course I am not sure about your rental contract (if you have signed anything to exclude these compensations), or the type of renovation work in your building. If you want to be sure you may contact ASLOCA office in your town, they give you free advice on this type of issues.
2 Likes
Most Swiss property management companies will automatically account for the loss of space over the renovation period and reimburse the money or deduct it from rents due. This may only happen at the end of the year in which the renovation occurred.
With private landlords and possibly some property managers, you may have to request the reimbursement/deduction. In my experience it always happened automatically. In any case, you have the right to it.
1 Like
I’ve seen a case where they rebuild the lift, changed courtains and kitchen. In that case they sent people out for a couple of weeks and then raised the rates. Note that they didn’t reimbourse anything for the 2 weeks period.
It’s a different case, I know, but I was wondering if a simple renovation is still a reason to raise rates, since you are going to live in a “nicer house”.
Sent out should be a 100% rent reduction, I’m not sure that would be even legal. I also doubt that the raised rent was legal. Did the renters contact a lawyer or did they just accept it?
I heard some people just left, some other just accepted it. I think the raise might be legal since they are giving you a new kitchen and so on…
I personally thought it was rubbish, especially because it wasn’t like they had a post-war kitchen or something. Actually the new curtains were sh%t…
This kind of things make me wonder why when considering buying a house/apartment as investment, I should calculate 1% as running cost, since for what I see, any kind of cost is then given to the tenant
So in the end, they just accepted it. The rent increase can’t be that much, if the new kitchen is worth 10’000 chf more than the old one(new kitchen costs 20’000, old one did cost 10’000), that would cap the increase at around 40-50 chf per month.
Some of them (property owners) just take advantage of the fact that it’s too much of a hassle to fight for it (rent deduction during work). But if you do, you are probably going to get some money back.