The City of Zurich can unilaterally change the rental practices for existing tenants.
Change of Rental Practice for existing tenants by City of Zurich
- In two rulings dated August 19, 2024, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the City of Zurich can unilaterally change the rental practice for its own apartments.
- Thus, the City of Zurich can now require an existing tenant to leave the six-room single-family house that she has been living in alone for 8 years and move into a smaller apartment (BGer. 4A_82/2024). An existing tenant must also accept the stricter income and wealth guidelines and, in addition, must provide the City of Zurich with the tax returns of the persons living in the apartment in question (BGer 4A_105/2024).
- However, the Federal Supreme Court stated, accidentally, that these two housing units were “publicly subsidized residential units of the public sector”, although the apartments are not subsidized.
- However, the Federal Supreme Court also stated in E. 3.3.2: “The protection against termination under Art. 271a para. 1 lit. f OR cannot reasonably apply indefinitely.” and “Even in the case of long-term debt relationships, there is no entitlement to favorable contractual conditions that remain unchanged and unchanged, virtually 'forever'.”
- It is therefore likely that the last word has not yet been spoken on existing tenancies with the City of Zurich for non-subsidized housing construction.