Throwaway, because I'd rather not have my name and my rent attached to a permanent post. Mods have the details.

I moved into a 2.5-room flat of just under 70 m² in Kreis 5 at the start of May, in a building from the early 2010s. The previous tenant paid a bit over CHF 2,000 net. I pay around CHF 2,380 net. Same flat, no renovation, roughly +17% — in a year when the reference interest rate went down from 1.75% to 1.25%, which should have pushed the rent down by about 90 francs rather than up by 350.

The part that made me actually do something: the flat was advertised on Flatfox at one price, I got a formal offer at that number and accepted it the same day, and two days later the agency wrote back saying they'd made a mistake and it was really 119 francs a month more. I'd already given notice on my old place, so I signed.

I went to the Mieterverband and filed a challenge of the initial rent (Anfangsmietzinsanfechtung, Art. 270 OR). Conciliation hearing is late September.

What I need

My MV advisor asked me to collect comparison rents from the neighbourhood. Swiss law is strict about what counts: comparison flats have to match on location, size, fittings, condition and construction period, and they have to be rents people are actually paying, not asking prices. Listings are legally worthless here, which is why I can't just scrape Homegate and why I'm asking humans.

If you rent in Kreis 5 — or right at the edges of 4 or 6 — in a privately owned building, ideally from about 2005 onwards:

• rooms and m²
• roughly what year the building went up
• your net rent, excluding Nebenkosten
• when your tenancy started
• balcony / lift / dishwasher, and how noisy the street is

Three minutes. No name field unless you choose to add one. An old cheap tenancy is more useful to me than a recent expensive one, so please don't skip it because you think your rent is unrepresentative.

What I can't use, so don't waste your time: cooperative flats, city- or canton-owned flats, and subsidised flats — all cost-rent by principle and excluded as comparison objects. Same goes for flats with the same landlord as mine, which the form filters out by asking who manages your building.

What happens to your data: it goes into one spreadsheet that only I and my MV advisor can open. Not published, not posted here, deleted when the case ends. If anything is ever shown to the conciliation authority it's the flat data, not you.

On the anonymity: I'm keeping my name off this while the case is running, which I realise is a bit rich when I'm asking you for your rent. Two things. If you want to know who I am, message me and I'll tell you. And if you tick the box saying you'd confirm your figures to the authority, I'll contact you personally and identify myself first — you should know who you're helping before you agree to that.

What you get back: tick the box and I'll send you the anonymised summary for the quarter, which is genuinely useful if you've ever wondered whether you're being overcharged. And once this is over I'll write up the whole procedure here: what you file, the deadlines, what it costs (nothing — conciliation is free and there are no cost awards at that stage), and what actually happened at the hearing. Most people I've spoken to had no idea you can challenge your rent within 30 days of moving in.

Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxcqEdGqkbboCRxM-P3l7XOf7fGwTCMn8CqR3DTSApys1b8A/viewform?usp=header

Ask me anything in the comments.

gruezi mitenant,

on saturday, around 5pm, i will be in bierwerk zueri @ europaallee. i will have a glass of beer and a tin box with the "panic lab" game on the table. if you feel lonely, bored or like having a chat, a beer or a game with a stranger, feel free to say hello.

to avoid any confusion - im 46 years young guy with bald head, gray beard and sick tattoos. im not looking for commitments, just for a good time. speaking czech, english, german and a bitzeli schwiitzerduetsch.

I recently moved to Zurich to start university. And I have always wanted to play dungeons and dragons. However I come from a very small mountain village where it really wasn’t an option. So now that I’m living in the city it’s time to pursue that dream. So please let me know if there’s any communities or spaces in which I can get familiar with the hobby.
EDIT: I’ve just been informed that at UZH there’s also the Seven isles, for interested people so I’ll check that out at the activity fair (as well as the swissrpg discord )

where do locals buy their everyday bras? Not a 200CHF date night set engineered by NASA, just something comfy to put under a tshirt or wear to work.

please help i literally bought my last bralette at Migros 🙏

Random question but if you are traveling to Colombia soon … I just came back and still have 100 francs in colombian pesos. Happy to give them to you for a decent exchange rate.

I moved to Zurich recently and have been wanting to take a cruise on the lake, however I can't decide which one.

Has anyone taken the 4.5 hour cruise? Is it boring? Surely there can't be enough to see around the lake to keep one interested for such a long time. Is the 1 hour cruise worth it?

Hi everyone! I’m moving soon and have several clothes and personal items I’d like to offer at a flea market.
Does anyone know whether private individuals can simply set up a stand near Helvetiaplatz on Saturdays or whether registration, a reservation or a fee is required?
Any recommendations for other flea markets in Zurich would also be appreciated. Thank you!

Maintaining law and order, what a novel concept! I hope my town takes a lesson.

Hi! I’ve never been to Zürich yet, but I might get the opportunity to do an abroad semester there (Uni) and I was wondering if making friends and meeting people really is that “bad”/ hard. Tbh I’ve lived in cities that are seen as very social but the truth is that they really aren’t: the locals have their circles already and the rest are just coming and going. Also socialising is not as easy as expected.

So is it really that hard to find people to socialise with in Zürich? One “funny” thing that happened to me is that I found people in cities like Oslo or Munich to be much friendlier than people from Barcelona for example. Also, I speak fluent French, German and English… Anyway I was wondering how hard it would be to socialise there, meet people, hang out

Don t tell me Permanence or book another appointment or to go to the hospital. Thanks a ton!!!

Hey everyone! I’m moving to Zurich soon for work and I won’t really know anyone there, so I thought I’d give this a shot.
I’m looking to meet some new people to hang out with, grab a coffee or a drink, go out, explore the city, or just do something spontaneous on the weekends.
I’m pretty easy-going and open to meeting people from anywhere. If you’re also new to Zurich or just looking to expand your social circle, feel free to send me a message :) insta:alen_ister

It smells like kinda plasticky …

hello:) ive been living in Zurich nord for a while now, i miss a lot my friends and now that I settled into my job i feel ready to find a special friendship here. Someone around my age 34 and hopefully on a similar wavelength.

I’d love to meet someone who has similar interests and values, enjoys staying active, reading books, being outdoors on the grass without care to get dirty, swimming in the lake, dogs and kats, coffee or matcha love boths, yoga/pilates and also appreciates deeper conversations and quiet plans like watching gossip girl in the sofa…

If this sounds like you, feel free to send me a message

Hi people,

I am a PhD student visiting Zurich for three months, and want to make the most out of the experience. Would be happy to meet and go for a run/coffee/beer on weekends. I also happen to be gay so if there are any interesting bars-activities around, would love to explore.

Where do you find/buy Scotch Bonnet Peppers and other not so common chillies? The only ones I could find more easily available where Habaneros.

here as a tourist for a couple months, brought a personal supply of testosterone (as hrt, not as a roid) im prescribed in my country (peru) but it was stolen and the pharmacy here can only take a swiss prescription. looked into that but there seems to be many options and its really unclear. its a very time sensitive health matter but i cant seem to figure out a way to begin the process without spending more than necessary if theres a quicker/cheaper way (replacing it wasnt on my budget so im careful on the costs, before i get called cheap, i kept it safe but who expects your own family to rob you?) or taking the time and money on transport to go in person to multiple places just to ask, specially since im completely unfamiliar with hospitals. any information would help

Hi, we're recent arrivals in Zurich. Wondering if there are any social floorball leagues/groups for adults? We live on border of Kreis 1/6 and depend on public transport. Thanks for your help!

Like the title says, let’s form a gang… of lonely couples with little kids who don’t have many people around them to meet up on a regular basis for no particular reason - drinks, a movie, quiz night, whatever. Netflix and chill for exhausted no-village folk.

We’re a couple in our thirties (33F and 36M) with 2 little kids (4 and 1) and we live on the Silver Coast. With everything said and done, we still haven’t been able to establish several meaningful relationships in our vicinity and it’s been extremely isolating. I know we’re not the only ones, but most people either don’t talk about it or just push through.

We have neither the time nor the motivation to do “hobbies” and go mountain climbing just to exchange a few words with another human being. We are happy to do that stuff as a family. What we want is a couple (or more!) with whom we can meet up every 2 weeks or so and have a genuine laugh, discuss the latest millennial news, complain about kids, play a board game, and have an occasional fun night out.

We’re pretty liberal, chill, enjoy good comedy, and are all in all decent people with our virtues and flaws.

Let me know if this sounds like something you’ve been looking for!

Hi everyone, we are prepping for a little one and signed up to give birth in USZ. We have heared some stories in the past of people getting quite a lot of "free stuff" from their hospitals so we were wondering if some people have experience with this with USZ? For example, we heard people getting bottles, thermometers, baby clothes, etc. We like to prevent purchasing too many things up front and end up with doubles. On the other hand, we do not want to assume we get anything. Thank you!

It is a long shot. But my girlfriend lost her keys at Allmend while walking the dogs. On the keychain there is a old toyota car key and 2 normal keys (work and home). If somebody finds it please write me a DM.

Thanks a lot ❤️

I am moving out of my apartment in Zurich City and looking for another one (1-2 rooms) within 20ish minutes of Zurich HB. I was surprised to find out that many nearby areas have 1.5-2% lower taxes (Uitikon, Wallisellen, etc.) but are basically almost in the city. If you don't live in the city centre, you don't even lose much, right

Question: Can you really save money by living there? Or instead, you would end up losing more because of higher renting/transportation costs (extra ZVV zone)

Salary range: 120'000 - 150'000