Hey Swiss Homies -

Okay - super basic question time (forgive me - I am a newbie!).

When the number of rooms are listed in Swiss apartments, is that the number of bedrooms or the physical number of rooms? Or does it vary by Canton you're in?

Thanksss!

L

It's usually number of rooms (ie, 3 rooms would be a 2-bedroom flat; 2.5 rooms would be 1 bedroom and either a lounge plus store room, or a very large lounge, or plus outdoor space or something to indicate a larger-than usual 1-bedroom flat).

kfc.

its the actual number of rooms. although that is completely open to interpritation. some consider the entrance hallway a room. ive even seen a place that claimed the walk-in closet was room. best bet is to have a wide room range and go by your price range instead. also view as many place as you can.
good luck

S'alright. We know how to deal with your type around here...

...Something like this. Here's your third, different answer. Of course, mine is correct.

Number of rooms listed =
(total number of rooms) +
0.5[1] -
Kitchen[2] -
Bathroom/ toilet[3]

For example, my 4.5 room apartment has 7 rooms + L-shaped hallway. I have a large bathroom-cum-bog and a smaller bog next to it. I have a good-sized kitchen.

7 - kitchen - bathroom - small bog =
7 - 1 - 1 - 0.5 = 4.5

[1] if there is a big hallway or a second small lavatory or something like that.
[2] if you are in a bed sit or studio situation, I suppose you couldn't deduct this else you might end up with zero rooms. Which might be difficult to rent out to people who can count.
[3] This is just a guess, but I don't think there are be many "open plan" lavatories.

or...

It is assumed that all flats have a bathroom and kitchen, so these are not counted.

Any room that is half decent in size gets a ½ added to it.

This is the same throughout Switzerland - in fact it's about the only thing that is...

This isn't entirely true. I think the renter was trying to pull it on you.
Hallways can not be counted as a room. Basements without windows cannot be either. Bomb shelter, no. For someone to count a walk in closet, it needs to have a window and floor area more than x meters.

Except* in Geneva where the kitchen is included in the number count.
ie. a 3.5 in Geneva is a 2.5 everywhere else.



*there is ALWAYS an exception!

Yes, but Geneva isn't really Switzerland, is it?

The 0.5 in small appartments during my search recently in Lausanne, was an indication you can fit a table and chairs in the kitchen. The kitchen was here never counted as 1.
1.5 = 1 room and a kitchen where you can fit in a table and chairs.
2.5 = 2 rooms and a kitchen where you can fit in a table and chairs.

Something for the FAQ?

Kind regards
Will

I disagree. An "L"-shaped hallway/ linkage corridor can be considered as a half room. Especially if you stick a table and a couple of chairs in the short part of the "L".

Yes true, but is seems the rules are open to bending depending on canton.
I think they should be counted on size, but I don't make the rules.
So far everyone has told me, (real-estate people) that every ROOM needs to have a window to be considered a room.
Our home has two galleries 10 sq.m each and these are not considered rooms, both have windows, doors, sitting areas, etc, but are not considered rooms. This is directly from real-estate sales people in NE, BE, VD, FR.

Not entirely sure about this but I've heard that in ZH a room has to be 12 m^2 or more to count as a room...

@PC: What is a gallery? does it connect other rooms?

My apartment in Lausanne has 5.5 rooms. This includes two small rooms each under 12sqm. One is probably more like 9sqm. They are definitely considered rooms.

The .5 room is a very large hall way, bigger than the two small bedrooms. It has no windows & all the rooms in the apartment lead to this hallway (except the living room). The kitchen can not fit a table & chairs. Our living room & dinning room although attached (without doors between them) are considered two rooms(even though if you split them in half with a wall & door, one of them wouldn't have any windows.

SuperDude,

Rooms numbers aren't listed in apartments, they are listed on websites or in classifieds.

I have spent some time in my apartment and never have I seen a listing of my rooms. If I was to guess, however, I would guess that my bathroom would be listed as number 2.

H

Hi,

Can someone help me out with what a "4.5 room" house really is? In the UK and in New Zealand we tend to talk about a "3 bedroom" or "4 bedroom" house and I'm not sure what a 3 bedroom house becomes in a swiss advertisement. Can't imagine Mrs Kiwipom and the two Misses Kiwipom being too impressed if I take them to a one bedder ....

Just trying to narrow my search to scheck availability in areas around Biel/Bienne

In Switzerland, 4.5 rooms = 3 bedroom place. The other 1.5 always just mean a living and dining area. So typically, you just subtract the number of rooms advertised by 1.5 and you get the number of bedrooms. Hope that helps!

Genius - thanks.

Sorry to be dense, but how are what in the U.S. would be called bathrooms (WCs in CH?) handled. An ad in the U.S. would say something like "3 bedrooms, 1.5 bath" where the .5 means toilet facilities but no shower/bath for instance.

Thanks.

Such details would be in the associated text of the ad.

just to add 'WorldTraveller'...
normally the '0.5' room indicates a 'dining space' (could be connected to a living room or simply a separate space). so,

"4-room": one living room and 3 bed rooms
"4.5 room": one living room, dining space and 3 bed rooms.

here, i saw a very useful post from 'swiss_in_training' (thanks, swiss_in_training!)