Where does the deposit go?

Up to three months in a blocked account in your name — never to the landlord’s private account.

Only on the statutory grounds: reference-rate increases, inflation pass-through and value-adding improvements. Each is challengeable.

Switzerland · CHF

Rentin Zurich

Zurich rents under reference-rate rules, three-month blocked deposits and fierce competition — the application dossier decides who gets the flat, and the initial rent can be challenged where the official form applies.

Geneva

Cantonal notary path

Lex Koller checked

3D map

Lex Kollerpermit regime for non-resident buyers

0% / ~3%transfer tax: Zurich vs Geneva

Reference ratethe mortgage rate that moves rents

20%Lex Weber cap on second homes per commune

What a purchase really costs

CHF 1'000'000 home in Zurich

Notary & land-register (cantonal scale ≈0.5%): CHF 5'000
Cash needed at the notary: CHF 1'005'000

≈ +0.5% over the price. Lex Koller makes Switzerland the tightest foreign-buyer regime on this site: buyers without residence or establishment need cantonal authorization inside federal quotas, and some cantons add their own restrictions. Zurich levies no transfer tax at all — registry fees only — while Geneva charges around 3%. Notary scales are cantonal: confirm the canton’s schedule before wiring.

Rentals run on rules

The rent side, in three lines

Rent increases track the federal reference mortgage rate — a rate cut entitles tenants to a reduction claim.
Deposits cap at three months’ rent (art. 257e CO) and must sit in a blocked account in the tenant’s name.
Geneva and Vaud require the official form for the initial rent and every increase — no form, no increase.

Tenants are organised and the law favours them. Underwrite the reference rate and the form, not the asking rent alone.

Cities

Two cities, 26 cantonal rulebooks

Transfer tax, notary scale and foreign-buyer practice are cantonal. Zurich and Geneva share a currency and almost nothing else about closing a purchase.

Apply with the full dossier: employment contract, salary proof, debt-register extract and references. Landlords choose from dozens; completeness is the strategy.

Notice runs three months to the customary local moving dates in many contracts — read the termination clause before you sign, because it also governs your exit.

Where the canton mandates the official initial-rent form, an excessive starting rent is challengeable within 30 days. In the city of Zurich that form has applied since 2023 — use the window or lose it.

FAQ

Where does the deposit go?: Up to three months in a blocked account in your name — never to the landlord’s private account.
Can the rent rise?: Only on the statutory grounds: reference-rate increases, inflation pass-through and value-adding improvements. Each is challengeable.

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