Rent reduction [2025]

Real Estate
61

"Dear Landlord,

I confirm receipt of your answer to my request for a rent reduction and take notice of it.

Please, find attached copies of the last two rent increases that you have applied when the changes in the reference rate allowed for it.

I have full confidence that, my rent being fair with those adjustments, it keeps being fair if it keeps following the reference interest rate both upward and downward.

I thank you sincerely for keeping your rents fair in all market situations and look forward to see this rent adjustment applied to my situation."

Maybe not factual enough and a bit too tongue in cheek. Getting a review/advice from your potential legal insurance or Mietverband would probably increase your chances and reduce the hassle that you may face.

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62

After reading a bit, it seems that you have 30 days to “appeal” their decision to the relevant authority. You may want to give them a short delay to acquiesce and go quickly to the relevant person/office if they don’t.

My understanding after 30s of reading (so not a good understanding) is that the list of the proper offices to appeal to is provided at the bottom of this page: Schlichtungsverfahren Miete und Pacht

However, my understanding is that a landlord can claim that the rent isn’t abusive if it “fall[s] within the range of rents customary in the locality or district” (art. 269a of the Code of Obligations: Fedlex). A rent adjustment might not be a given.

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63

IIRC burden of proof is fairly high (if it wasn’t landlords would just do it), and I’m not sure it can be trigger with interest rate change, it can be contested only with the a new contract. It’s usually used in the reverse (contesting the rent after accepting an apartment).

edit: Art270c is the relevant part, and I don’t see how they can contest it.

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64

And don’t forget to save the letter so that you can use similar wording when they try to increase rents again and be sure to include:

In light of this, we would like to suggest keeping it unchanged.

We greatly appreciate it if you can understand this and thus contribute to ensuring that our apartments can continue to be rented at such affordable prices.

:smiley:

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65

I asked this the Mietverband recently, and they told/wrote me that this basically never gets through.

Be friendly but also clear that there is no other option. And tell them until which date you have to move it forward to the Schlichtungsbehörde if they do not comply.*

*if you know your landlord personally, try it first a bit less confrontational, while still ensuring to not miss any deadline.
For big agencies, I don’t see the point of wasting time.

5 Likes
66

After reading a bit, it seems that you have 30 days to “appeal” their decision to the relevant authority.

And tell them until which date you have to move it forward to the Schlichtungsbehörde if they do not comply.*

Aren’t they the ones having to contest the decision to the relevant office within 30 days?

I’m pretty sure that that when they sent the notice for the increase, me sending a “are you sure?” letter wouldn’t have been enough to pause the procedure. I don’t see why it would be different in the other direction.

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67

If that’s the case, then I guess you can sit for 30 days.

68

Anyone has not heard back from their owner/régie about the rent decrease?

Wincasa has not responded, and when inquired they are “still working on the high number of requests”.

So I am filing the case with the local authority.

If others are in the same case you have 30 days to do it (so 60 days from the date you requested the decrease).

1 Like
69

I wrote an email on Monday. Tuesday I got the letter. -2.4% for ref rate but +0.6% inflation → 1.8% at the end. I calculated some 3.3%
 but ok, their calculation seem to be right and I don’t wanna argue about 13 or so chf a month.

1 Like
70

1.5 month after ref rate drop, let’s do a poll about the outcome:

  • Reduction requested, reduction granted
  • Reduction requested, reduction refused
  • Reduction requested, rent increased
  • Reduction requested, ghosted by agency
  • No reduction requested, didn’t bother
  • No reduction requested, I do not rent
  • No reduction requested, not eligible (MV calculator)
  • Other (answer below)
0 voters
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71

Other: haven’t asked yet (still some time since anyway the next rent change is in the fall)

72

Other: No reduction requested 


  • as the ref rate of 1.5% is now at the same point as when we started renting in April 2018
  • as the landlord wanted to hike the rent in early 2024 after the increase to 1.75% but we were able to talk him out of it after explaining that – as verbally initially agreed – we would not request a rent reduction when the ref rate would go down and he would not increase the rent after the ref rate would go up.
    We did have to produce some hard data to back things up:
    • ref rate went down in March 2020 to 1.25% (we didn’t request a reduction)
    • ref rate went up to 1.5% in June 2023
    • ref rate went up to 1.75% in Dec 2023
  • I guess technically, he could argue with inflation and what not, but we would argue with probably about CHF 10k of rent paid extra because we did not ask for a reduction in March 2020.

I guess our situation is a one-off as the landlord is an old couple – that can be still reasoned with, though! – and given our rental price for the single house in the city of Zurich we hope they live forever (or at least outlive us 
 :wink: ).

Side note: my wife thankfully handled the communication with the landlord cool-headed and successfully. Hot-headed Goofy – as sometimes in this forum – would have showed up with his double barrel break action shotgun 
 (not literally, as he doesn’t own one, but verbally, as he was kind of really pissed off).

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73

Other: Reduction requested - Told to wait until next bi-annual “regular” date of rent revision/cancellation (Mar/Sep).

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74

Some of my friends got rent reduction without even asking

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75

That indeed changes the strategy. Sometimes it’s great (like in your case now), sometimes it can be a pain if “familiar”/“friendly” comes with “unprofessional”.

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76

Other: No reduction requested

Landlord didn’t increase when rates went up and we have a good relationship with him.

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77

That also matches “No reduction requested, not eligible (MV calculator)”, no? If they didnt increase you shouldn’t be eligible.

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78

Not really as the rate is now lower than when we started renting, he never increased the rent since we moved in. So we probably would be eligible to request a reduction.

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79

how often can you request a rent reduction?

80

I don’t think there’s a restriction, but interest rates aren’t changing that often :smiley:

1 Like