Penthouses, top-floor flats, south-facing façades with large windows and no shutters. When July rolls around, the midday heat in many Swiss buildings is hard to bear. And the question that always arises is the same: is the owner obliged to do anything? Can you demand anything?
The answer is not straightforward. The Swiss Code of Obligations (Art. 259a) allows a tenant to claim a reduction in rent when the flat has a defect that reduces its utility value. However, ‘it gets hot in summer’ is not automatically a defect for which the landlord is liable. If the building is thirty years old and has never had thermal insulation, the heat may be uncomfortable but it is not necessarily a rectifiable fault that entitles you to pay less rent.
Where you do have a better chance of success is when the heat problem stems from a specific structural issue: a roof in poor condition, uninsulated ceilings, a lack of blinds or shutters on windows directly exposed to the sun, or windows without any form of sun protection that the property itself ought to provide. In such cases, some cantonal courts have allowed rent reductions of between 5 per cent and 15 per cent during the summer months. It is not automatic, but it is not impossible.
What you cannot demand under any circumstances is that the landlord installs air conditioning if this was not specified in the tenancy agreement. Nor are you entitled to a rent reduction simply because it is hot in July, as it is every year. Your complaint must be based on a specific and demonstrable fault, not on general weather conditions. If you believe your case has merit, the first step is to contact ASLOCA in French-speaking Switzerland or the Mieterverband in German-speaking Switzerland. They offer free advice to tenants and can quickly tell you whether you have a valid case.