Apartments in Zurich

Moving to Zurich usually means looking for a flat before you have a Swiss address, a local employer reference or any credit history here, which is the part nobody warns you about. This site lists rentals across the city, and the notes below cover what a landlord will actually ask you for.

What a landlord asks for, and when to hand it over

Have the paperwork ready before you start looking: a Betreibungsauszug (an extract from the debt collection register, ordered from your local Betreibungsamt for around 17 francs), a copy of your passport or residence permit, your last three payslips or a signed employment contract if you have not started yet, and personal liability insurance. Arriving from abroad you cannot produce a Swiss debt extract, so a reference from your current landlord plus proof of income usually stands in its place.

Ready is not the same as sent. Anyone can post a listing here and postings are screened automatically, so treat an unknown poster the way you would treat any stranger asking for identity documents. A first message only needs who you are, when you want to move in and that you would like to view the flat. Hand over the full dossier after the viewing, once you know who you are dealing with, through the landlord's or agency's own application process. Never pay a deposit or a viewing fee before you have a signed contract.

Read the price before you compare two flats

Rent is quoted two ways here and the difference is easy to miss. Listings taken from partner portals show the gross rent wherever the source reports one, so heating, water and building upkeep are already inside the headline figure. A privately posted flat is more often quoted net, with those Nebenkosten added on top, commonly 150 to 350 francs a month for a city flat, sometimes as a fixed charge and sometimes as an advance settled once a year. The detail page keeps net rent and charges apart whenever the source gave both, so check there before you budget. The deposit is capped at three months' rent by law and is paid into a blocked account in your own name, not to the landlord. Budget for the Serafe household media fee as well.

## Practical points - Register at your Kreisbüro within 14 days of moving in, and bring the signed lease, because you cannot register without it. - Unfurnished here can be literal: many flats come without light fittings and sometimes without wardrobes. - Notice is normally three months, and in the city of Zurich the customary termination dates are 31 March and 30 September. Your own contract sets the binding dates, and those dates rather than the month you give notice decide when you can actually move. - Sublets and Nachmieter handovers move fastest and are often the realistic route into a tight market.

Filter by rooms, price or location above, then contact whoever posted the listing directly. Posting your own is free and needs no account.