Hello All:

Wanted to ask about subsidized housing in Zurich. If there is a current thread on this I apologize just can't seem to find it.

I am wanting to move to Zurich/ maybe live in Aargau or outside Zurich city and was wondering about assistance offered in housing and in what forms it may come? Pay part of the rent if you don't make enough? I have wife and two kids am Swiss and so are they except wife she is on a Visa.

How to qualify etc would also be helpful if there is such a thing.

Thank you for the time.

If you are destitute, and have registered with the "Sozialamt" (social security office)* you will be offered some sort of rudimentary accommodation in a "family hostel". This is considered emergency, temporary housing. Therefore, it doesn't have to fulfil the usual minimum requirements for comfortable living, for example, you may have one room for all four of you or may even share with another family. That is what a Social Worker explained to me.

The aim will be to get you out of there as soon as possible. However, this is unlikely to be by fnding you a flat. It will be by requiring of you to learn enough German to get a job and pay your own way, so you can rent an appartment.

There is subsidised housing, but in that segment of the rental market the demand is very high. Unless someone you know knows someone who knows someone, it is hard to find a cheap flat to rent.

If you do find flat that is subsidised, the "discount" is already deducted before you get the contract. So an apartment which might cost Fr. 2100 if it were not subsided and Fr. 1500 with a subsidy, would be rented on a contract at Fr. 1500. The subsidy happens in the background. The tenant owes the full Fr. 1500.

* Please note that and as a Swiss citizen you have an inaliable right to return to Switzerland at any time, and also to help from the Sozialamt, even if you have never paid tax to the Swiss government. You ALWAYS have this to fall back on.

However, the budget at that level is very low, and it is a struggle to make ends meet each month. It is not a comfortable way to live, but you will be able to count on a roof over your head and just enough for very plain food, so this makes it a very good option for anyone who cannot manage to support him/herself.... yet.

If you want a cheaper rental contract, you can check with the Genossenschaft that have buildings to rent. However, often there is a long waiting queue.

They offer housing at a very modest rental price

Have you ever actually lived in Switzerland before? As a Swiss you would be covered for social assistance, but it is anything but a pleasant experience. First of all you will be required to show that you gave exhausted all possibilities of family support, so if you have relatives in Switzerland you and they will need to show that they can't support you in any form. And assuming you are qualified to receive social assistance, your life will be supervised to ensure that your expenses are necessary etc....

There are are no standards, you will get what the community decide you need and what the community can afford.

This is not something you want to do unless you are beyond desperate....

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"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." - Nelson Mandela