Rental deposit for students and apprentices: first flat, no savings

You have found the room or the small flat, the rent fits – and then the property manager asks for a deposit of two to three months’ rent before the keys change hands. For a CHF 1’200 room that means up to CHF 3’600 on top of the first month’s rent, the move and a mattress. For most students and apprentices it is the single biggest hurdle on the way to a first home.

Your options

• Parents as joint debtors or guarantors. Many property managers accept a parent who co-signs the lease or signs a guarantee. Cheap, but the parents are fully liable for rent and damage, and not every family can or wants to do this.
• Savings into the blocked account. If you have the money, this is the cheapest route: the deposit stays yours, earns a little interest and comes back after the move. Just remember that it is gone until then.
• Deposit guarantee with youth discount. Swisscautionen24 guarantees the deposit to the landlord. You pay an annual premium of 4.9% of the deposit amount (minimum CHF 180) plus fees instead of blocking the sum, and under 26 you get a 10% youth discount on the premium. The landlord has the same security as with a bank deposit; you keep your savings for the move.
• A room in a shared flat or a sublet. If only the main tenant is on the lease, they hold the deposit and usually ask you for your share privately. Get that in writing, with the amount and the conditions for the refund. If everyone is on the lease, everyone is jointly liable for the whole deposit.
• Student housing. Student residences and housing cooperatives often ask for just one month’s rent as a deposit and have simpler application rules – worth a place on the waiting list early.

What property managers check

A low income is not a knock-out criterion, but the file has to be complete and credible:

• Debt enforcement register extract (Betreibungsregisterauszug), no older than three months, from the debt enforcement office at your current address.
• Income or a guarantor: apprenticeship salary, scholarship, part-time job or a parent’s salary statement.
• References: a previous landlord, the student residence or the employer.
• The one-third rule: rent including service charges should not exceed about a third of net income. With CHF 1’500 a month that is a room at CHF 500 – or a guarantor who closes the gap.

The provisional certificate: your advantage

Property managers want to know how the deposit will be paid before they say yes. A free provisional certificate from Swisscautionen24 shows them that the deposit is secured as soon as the lease is signed. It arrives by email in minutes, is valid for three months and goes into your application file next to the register extract. For a student without a payslip it is often the detail that moves the file to the top of the pile.

Checklist for the first flat

• Budget: rent at most a third of net income, plus electricity, internet, insurance and Serafe.
• File: application form, ID or residence permit, register extract, proof of income or guarantor, references.
• Deposit: decide between parents, savings and guarantee before the viewing.
• Provisional certificate requested and attached.
• Liability insurance taken out – many property managers require it.
• Move-in report read carefully and every defect recorded.

Everything about the youth discount and the conditions under 26 is on our page for young tenants.