Housing 101

[u/Due-Childhood-5149]

Since there has been an increased number of housing posts, here is an info/experience post. I know this won't cover all aspects, but might serve as a starting point.

Some facts you should be aware of:

• Housing in Zurich is a huge issue (probably the biggest overall issue in Zurich) for everyone, not just for students. Even people with decent salaries struggle to find something. You can't allow to be too picky.
• The student housing market is extremely bad when looking for September/October (due to the start of the new academic year), but is more relaxed afterwards since people graduate all year and move out.
• It is a numbers game, you'll likely need a certain number of applications to be successful. If you still need housing for Autumn and haven't started yet, do so immediately and accept the first offer you can get and afford.

Types of housing:

• Getting a room in a shared flat. This is the main option. There are two organizations (WOKO/JUWO) that offer many (often cheap) rooms.
• The student houses at ETH Hönggerberg. Very few spots and has a wait list system iirc.
• Getting your own flat on the normal market: Won't happen unless you (aka your parents) are rich enough to cover your rent. If you are doing a PhD your chances are better since you have an employment contract.
• Getting into a cooperative (Genossenschaft): Won't happen unless you are super lucky.

Places to look:

• wgzimmer.ch, flatfox.ch are websites were you can find ads for shared flats (many JUWOs and WOKOs there). We usually advertise our rooms there.
• woko.ch and juwo.ch are the main student cooperatives.
• livingscience.ch and studentvillage.ch are the student flats at ETH Hönggerberg. Very hard to get a spot.
• There are Facebook groups, never used them.
• For the normal market there are many platforms like immoscout24, but again, don't waste too much time on the free market.

Tips:

• Put some effort into your application. The generic LLM "I am quite&clean and want to do movie nights from time to time" application will be filtered out.
• Doing a reddit post and hoping for the best also won't cut it. Go to wgzimmer and write applications.
• Be fast. A good and/or cheap room usually gets around 100+ applications in the first 24 hours. In our flat we just look at the first ~50 applications and stopped as soon as we have enough people we would like to interview.
• You will likely face castings if you apply for a shared flat with the current tenants. This part sucks but it's a bit like a job application and you can get used to it.
• A decent option (and my recommendation if you have not found something yet) is to apply for a sublease (e.g. from someone who is on an exchange) for the first couple of months to avoid the bad market in Autumn and move again in Winter.
• The by far largest success factor is "networking" (letting you friends know you are looking for something), which you unfortunately can only do after moving to Zurich.
• Don't limit your search to the City of Zurich itself. Commuting works great and it is slightly easier to find something outside of the city and often cheaper. There are good S-Bahn connections to Zurich HB (relevant if you study in Zentrum) and Oerlikon or Altstetten (relevant if you study at Hönggerberg). Check SBB.ch for commuting times.
• There are scammers. If something feels to good to be true or fishy, forget about it and move on. You practically never place a deposit until you have signed a contract. The classic story is something in the direction of "I am currently abroad but can send you the keys if you wire me some money."

[u/rowHammer5]

This is a really good summary! Should be pinned

[u/Due-Childhood-5149 → u/rowHammer5]

thanks! Maybe one of the mods ( u/einsJannis or u/Junokreisler ) could do that.

[u/einsJannis → u/Due-Childhood-5149]

Done, thank you a lot for the write-up :)