Switzerland,25.05.2018

Are you happy with your flat?

According to a survey conducted by the “comparis.ch” site, some 76 per cent of all tenants in Switzerland are dissatisfied with their accommodation in one way or another.

The survey was conducted among 4,000 tenants aged between 18 and 74.

Of the complaints, one third found that the walls of their flats were too thin (i.e. they were disturbed by noise from neighbours), 22 per cent said their rent was too high and 17 per cent were annoyed with matters such as faulty heating or mildew which landlords had failed to put right. A further 17 per cent were not happy with the standard of building and 16 per cent were not happy with shortcomings in the kitchen, bathroom and terrace. Other causes of disgruntlement were poor indoor climate (14 per cent), poor light (11 per cent) and the layout of the apartment (8 per cent).

As many as 13 per cent of those interviewed were unhappy with the landlord in some way or other, for example with poor levels of management, unfriendliness, unprofessionalism and reacting too slowly to matters which needed attention, repairs and such like, not to mention not being easily contactable.

Despite all these complaints, Nina Spielhofer, a property expert at Comparis, said that, of all those interviewed, only one quarter of them admitted they were looking to move in the coming 12 months, though of these, two-thirds of them were not able to as a result of financial constraints.

While on finance, seven per cent, particularly those in French and Italian-speaking Switzerland, felt that their ancillary costs were too high. Of all those interviewed, four per cent said they paid too much when compared with what their neighbours pay.

As to external factors relating to accommodation, 23 per cent said the tax level of the area was too high, 20 per cent complained about external noise (especially in French-speaking Switzerland) and 14 per cent had problems with neighbours.