3.1. Geneva Housing Situation
Geneva is the smallest of Europe’s major international cities, with a very diverse population. The fortified Old Town is home mainly to the descendants of the old patrician Huguenot families, who immigrated from France and Italy in the XVIth century to escape the persecution of Catherine de Medicis (representing a very orthodox Catholic Church at that time). Just outside the walls of the Old Town, is the area which is known as the left bank, where you will find the University of Geneva, the downtown banking area and Geneva’s cultural life. If you cross the lake and head towards the area known as the right bank, you will discover International Geneva: headquarters of humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross/Crescent, the High Commission for Refugees, and worldwide institutions such as the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, International Labour Office, World Migration Organisation, World Trade Organisation, to name just a few. There is a strong multinational atmosphere in this part of the city, where many of those who work for these organisations actually live. This is also the focal point for those entering and leaving Geneva (airport, railway station and highway). Most 5* hotels are located on the right bank. The standard of living in Switzerland is high and so are the infrastructures, however there is an acute shortage of affordable accommodation in Switzerland, especially in the Geneva region. Thus finding your dream and cosy apartment overlooking the lake may be very difficult to do! Shortage of places to live is common throughout Switzerland. The vacancy rate for apartments and houses has fallen to 0,91% on average for the whole country. With 0,33%, Geneva has the lowest vacancy rate. According to the Federal Office of Statistics, the two principal reasons are: population growth resulting from the arrival of multinational companies and a stagnation in new-build houses or apartments. Housing accounts for around 25 to 30% of the average family budget. Housing accounts for around 25 to 30% of the average family budget. Where to live in the Canton of Geneva? Left Bank Centre
• Champel, Malagnou, Florissant – high-standard
family residential area
• Old Town – stunning old apartments - generally
extremely expensive and rare
• Plainpalais – trendy, arty, university area
Modern-Art Galleries, bars and restaurants favoured by students, young families
• Eaux-Vives – young, family, very lively,
restaurants, parks, walks, Jet d’Eau
• Carouge – a “village” atmosphere, small
buildings, fairly expensive Countryside
• Cologny, Vésenaz, Vandoeuvres, Anières,
Hermance – high-standard villas
• Vessy, Veyrier, Troinex – middle-range villas
• Thônex, Chêne-Bourg – mixed area of flats and
villas of normal standard
• Onex, Petit-Lancy, Plan-Les-Ouates – fast-
growing suburbs, mostly flats
• Bernex, Lully, Cartigny, Satigny, Soral, Avusy
- rural vineyards, typical village houses and
detached houses Right Bank Centre
• Pâquis – close to lake front & railway station,
ethnic, bars, restaurants, swimming, walks, very animated in the summer, shopping, cinemas
• Saint-Jean – quiet, middle-range area
• Servette – upcoming, middle-range area
• Petit-Saconnex, Grand-Saconnex – mostly
favoured by international employees and expatriates Countryside
• Versoix, Collex, Genthod, Bellevue – residential
but can be affected by noise from aircraft, trains and motorway
• Meyrin, Vernier, Aïre-La-Ville – suburban,
industrialised areas Most families want to live close to their children’s school, while most singles or couples want to live close to their office or on the same side of the lake in order to avoid crossing bridges, especially the Mont-Blanc bridge which can become very congested during rush-hour. The cost will vary considerably depending on the construction year, size, facilities and location of the accommodation. When a vacant property is renovated, the new tenant can expect an increase in rent. Given the lack of available apartments, some tenants take advantage of the situation by subletting their apartment -furnished or not - at a higher price. Low-cost housing such as HLM and HCM (council flats) is only for low-income Swiss nationals and C-permit holders, who have paid taxes for 2 years minimum in the Canton of Geneva.
3.2. Renting an accommodation
In Geneva, the number of rooms counted in an apartment description includes the living room, bedroom and kitchen so a three-room apartment consists of the living room, bathroom, kitchen and one bedroom. In Vaud, the kitchen is not counted as a room so a three-room apartment consists of the living room, bathroom, kitchen and two bedrooms.
• Rental application – when applying for
accommodation, you will need to submit a series of documents with your rental application, so please note that you will have to provide us a copy of:
- Salary attestation issued by employer
- Passport or ID card
- Attestation of non-debt dated of less than 3
months
- Work authorisation for non EU
• Lease contract – issued for one year, three or
five years then automatically renewable. More and more leases are issued for a fixed term and non-renewable period of one year. This being said, if all goes well during the tenancy the lease is most probably renewed.
• Cancellation notice – to cancel a lease contract,
tenants must give a 3-months advance notice for the anniversary date of the lease.
• Liberatory clause – this clause entails that
as of the second year of rental, in the case of transfer out of Geneva or Switzerland for professional reasons the lease can be cancelled with three months’ notice for the end of a month. Although Welcome Service will request it, it is not automatically granted.
• Deposit – the deposit or bank guarantee is
equivalent to three months of rent and must be established prior to the entrance inspection (see below). Cash or checks are not accepted; the money must be blocked on a special bank account in Switzerland during the entire length of the lease. Upon vacating the premises, and providing that the premises have not been deteriorated beyond ‘normal wear and tear’, the guarantee will be released. If the total amount of the guarantee is below CHF 15’000.- this can be taken care of by Swisscaution or Smartcaution, but you will need to receive the approval from the estate agency first. A yearly fee is due depending on the amount of the bank guarantee. More information on www.swisscaution.ch or www.smartcaution.ch.
• Rent – Must be paid by the 1st of each month.
• Entrance inspection – Before moving into
your home, an entrance inspection is always completed in presence of the real estate agency. Welcome Service will be present during this formality and we highly recommend your presence as well. Entrance inspection is the base of the exit inspection.
• Civil liability insurance – see Chapter 5
• Home content insurance – see Chapter 5
• Garbage – Switzerland recycles a relatively high
proportion of household waste, so Swiss people sort their rubbish for recycling. The manner and timing of waste collection depends on where you live. Most buildings have a bin room located in the basement that contains special containers for compost, aluminium, batteries, standard garbage, glass, plastic, etc. All your waste must be put in special plastic bags that you can find in every supermarket.
3.3. Some of your
responsibilities as a tenant
• Excessive wear & tear – You will be expected to
replace,repair or clean damaged,lost or soiled items.
• Holes in the wall – You are allowed to hang
up pictures on the walls but when leaving the apartment, the holes must be filled in. For this job, we recommend you to contact a painter.
• Damages caused by pets – You will be
responsible to repair any damages done by your pets.
• Maintenance of household appliances/ equipment.
• Repair of damage caused by leaking pipes (gas
or water), frost.
• Chimney – The chimney must be swept once
a year. Usually the chimney sweeper will get in contact with you directly. Please keep in a safe place invoices as they will be requested at the exit inspection.
• Heating system – If the heating is an individual
system, a control must be done once a year. You may also be requested to subscribe to a yearly maintenance contract.
• Boiler – The boiler must be de-scaled once
every two years. It is usually done shortly before the exit inspection.
• Oil tank – You should check your oil level twice
a year and add fuel if necessary.
• Gutters, ditches and rain collectors – Due
to the fall of the leaves in autumn, you should clean the latter as they might be obstructed. You can do this yourself or contract the services of a gardener or handyman. This will have to be done before leaving the house.
• Pipes – Due to the low temperatures, the
external pipes may freeze in winter. You should therefore close the water supply and empty the pipes to prevent them from freezing. The tenant will be held responsible of any damage caused by freeze. Please note that some gardeners are willing to do that for you, so do not hesitate to ask them.
• Pipe works – The tenant must regularly clean
and bear the cost of cleaning the internal and external drains. Some landlords/agencies will request this to be performed for the exit inspection.
• Parasites, rodents, wasps, etc. – Inform your
lessor immediately of any problems. Your lessor will provide you with details of a specialist to deal with these problems, and will most probably supervise the interventions, to make sure that you are not responsible for these pests.
• Maintenance of the garden – Unless otherwise
stated in the lease contract, tenants are responsible for the maintenance of the garden. Thelandlord/agency will expect tenants to return it in the condition you received it.Responsibilities include: trimming of the hedges and small trees once a year, regular lawn-mowing, fertilizing and scarifying if necessary, maintenance of the flower beds, regular watering of the lawn, flower beds and small trees, removal of all waste material from the property, cleaning of the terrace with a waterblaster at least once a year. The lessor has the right to request that a professional takes care of the above mentioned, at the tenant’s charge, if the tenant has not done anything, despite warnings in writing.
• Swimming-pool – It should be prepared for
freezing temperatures. Usually, if you have a maintenance contract, the company should take care of it.
3.4. Construction standards
• Kitchen : either equipped or unequipped.
In anything from a studio to a three-room apartment, the kitchen is often equipped or only semi-equipped; fridge, cooker, or extractor fan. In newbuildings,appliances are of very good quality but freezers may nevertheless still be very small and without microwave.
• Laundry facilities in apartment : sometimes
equipped with connection in order to install your personal appliance – installation must be done by a professional. In most buildings there is a common laundry-room with washer and dryer shared with rotas for tenant use.
• Laundry facilities in house:sometimes equipped
or not but there are always the connections.
• Lighting : apartments are handed over with bare
electrical wires which mean there is no obligation from the landlord to provide sockets or hooks.
• No curtain rails or curtains are provided but
shutters or blinds are installed.
• Parquet or tile floors for living areas.
• In apartment buildings, the common laundry
room (usually in the basement) is equipped with washing machine(s) and dryer(s).
• In a house, the laundry room may or may not be
equipped.
• Properties with an equipped kitchen do not
usually have a microwave oven or a separate freezer.
• Refrigerators with ice-boxes may be smaller than
you are used to.
• There are no fly or mosquito screens on windows.
• There is no air-conditioning installed.
• New apartments tend to have smaller bedrooms;
we recommend you to check before bringing your king-size bed.
• For new or renovated accommodations, the
possible establishment of a telephone connection is at the charge of the entering tenant.
3.5. Price of electricity
• Electricity is usually at each tenant’s expense and
is billed based on the consumed kilowatt-hour (kWh)
• The price of the kilowatt-hour varies depending
on your home address and the amount of electricity used (appliances, cooking, heating, etc.). In Switzerland, it can go from approximately Sfr. 0.05 to Sfr. 0.45, the average price being Sfr.
