Hi all,

I live in a rented apartment in the old town in Geneva. I have been there since the 1st Feb 2008 and plan to stay for a good few years until I can save enough to deposit on a purchase.

My problem is, the kitchen in the apartment is really old and getting a bit skanky (apologies for the wording ). Some of the cupboards smell mouldy and others have stains that I just can't scrub off.

I know I shouldn't be fussy, and I should count myself lucky that I got an apartment when so many are stll looking unsuccessfully.

However, I just wonder if it's worth me approaching my regie about getting a new kitchen fitted. Has anyone gone through anything similar? Am I likely to get any success?

Thanks in advance for any advise that may come

Lee

Worth trying - but don't be surprised if you have to pay more rent...

Thanks AbFab. That would be quite annoying!

I may try and come from the "but I plan to stay here for years and you're going to make lots and lots of money off me anyway..." angle.

Hi there,

Not sure if you got this resolved yet at this point. But one of our friends was in a similar situation last year. He wanted to have new laminated floor for his rental apartment and the landlord agreed to do so but wanted to raise the rent by Sfr. 80.- per month (for a 4.5-Zimmer apt). Our friend went shopping around and found out that he could do the floor himself for the material cost of less than Sfr. 1,000.- (he bought the floor and did the installation himself). Since then he's already broke even with his out-of-pocket expense.

I know a kitchen will cost a lot more than Sfr. 1,000, but depends on how big your kitchen is, how long you plan to stay there and what the incremental rent might be, it may be worth while checking out the cost and do some math before taking next step.

Good luck!