Thank you, I have them from www.mietrecht.ch

Regarding a situation, where a lease is dated back to 1999..

According to a very theoretical calculation using this calculator

http://www.beobachter.ch/rechner/mietzinsrechner/

the rise in the consumer prices and general rise in cost (I do not pretend to know how this parameter is calculated) would offset the decrease in the net rent significantly

For some reason though this thing does not have an option for 2010 index

However the rent was raised around 2005 because of those indexes, no recalculation due to interest rate. So about 6% cost of living increase & nearly 50% interest rate reduction........

Thanks for this useful post, I had no idea about this. My contract, signed on 1 August 2010 shows a reference rate of 3% IPC, but I've just noticed my contract is not for a year - it was from 1 August 2010 to 1 April 2011 - does anyone know if that affects my rights to apply for a decrease. Also, I'm not sure when I can apply now as the contract is not yearly. This is worrying me now, although it has just renewed automatically like a yearly contract.

Does anyone know the renter's association for Lausanne/Vaud? Maybe I should check with them before I rock the boat

Thanks!

I'd be careful with that, I know it's tenant's rights to ask for this "update", but comparis mention some moderations:

Other factors that influence the rent reduction
If the landlord adjusts the rent according to the change in the reference interest rate, he or she is entitled to charge a part of the inflation (at most 40 per cent). The rent calculator does not reflect this option. In addition, the landlord could take into account the general cost increase. However, the latter has to be proven. As a general rule, the cost increase should not exceed 0.5 per cent per year. Furthermore, the landlord could adjust the rent to the rent standards typical for the local area.
Find out about the rent standards in your area: Price development of flats and houses by comparis.ch.

Source>:
http://en.comparis.ch/immobilien/mie...hnungsfaktoren


I don't know if it's true- But the latest comment (adjusting the rent to the local area) could prove dangerous move!

We put ours in the mail today, I'll post when we get a reply.

This calculator is missing the "landlord is cheeky custard" button!

Apparently when we first signed, somehow the landlord had documents "proving" that the rent was less than market value. So according to my OH it would not make sense for us to apply for rent reduction because they wouldn't grant it anyway. Anyone else with a similar situation? If you apply and they don't reduce can they actually increase instead? That's sort of the impression I get from a few of the most recent posts.

Well that what is written on comparis.
Now that's not necessarily a reliable source and they could be very "oriented".
So I'd suggest you do some digging in Swiss laws!

General question: I'm moving from Germany to Switzerland on October 1st, and the interest rate shown on my contract is 2.25%. The kündigungstermine on my contract are March 31, June 30, and September 30. Is it possible to already request for a rent deduction before I've even moved into my place? The contract was signed right before they announced the interest rate reduction.

Very unlikely, you have to wait usually 1 year before you can cancel a contract you just signed. Then its 3 months until the change is made....

You can only request a change once you are eligible to cancel the contract. The situation in one year can be different than now.

One bright note is that your landlord can voluntarily do this. Its possible, but not many will willingly do this

Your lease begins on 01.10.2013 ==> you have no tenant rights before 01.10.2013 ==> no

You can terminate the lease after 1 (2, 3) year/s only if and only if the lease contains this provision.

The interest rate will be reviewed again in December. You cannot terminate until March. Apply common sense here.

Curious - some of you have written letters...what was the outcome?

I've been in my place for just over 3 years and in my contract was mention of a mortage rate of 3%. I should have written before, but didn't even know the percentage figure was in my contract (I didn't pay close attention to it before!).

Anyway, I wrote this time and I bumped into my landlord today who said he'd gotten the letter and he will write to me in the next few weeks with the new details. He was in a great mood and seemed impressed that I'd written the letter and knew about the potential rent reduction. Didn't seem to bother him one bit that he'd be getting slightly less rent - but then this is the same landlord that was too lazy to advertise an empty flat before and wasn't fussed it was empty for 6 months.

The standard letter proposed by the Renters' Association asks for landlords to reply within 30 days. I wouldn't expect a response for another week or two.

Shameless bump for this thread, if you send the letter off today by registered post you should make the deadline (I hope WE do).

If your deadline ends today, a registered letter won't help …

We received the reply to the extent that our rent will be revised in December effective April 1st (reference was made to Art. 270a of OR*). Corresponding changes in the interest rate and the right to make adjustment for inflation (Teuerungsausgleich und allgemeine Kostensteigerung) remain reserved. Apparently this type of request follows the same logic as terminating the lease. I.e. 3 months' notice.

*http://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifie...009/index.html

I've received the letter from the landlord. My rent reduction works out to 2.56% after adjustments for increased maintenance costs. Happy with that, except that it won't take effect until 01.02.2014 due to the baseless practice of not counting December in the three-month notice period. Added to my many other rent reductions over the last 4.5 years, that's quite a hefty overall reduction.

My contract (signed in November 2012, effective since December 2012) states 2.25%. Is there any point writing to claim the 0.25% reduction, or is it too early / not worth it?

It would mean a roughly 3 percent deduction off your rent. Worth it to me.

http://www.mieterverband.ch/fileadmi...senkung_ZG.pdf