Federal Court has ruled City of Zurich may now evict woman from 6-room house after all

The city of Zurich wants to move people into apartments that are too large. The Federal Court has now ruled in favor of the city.

In April, a case in Zurich caused a stir: a woman was living alone in a 6-room municipal house and the city of Zurich was unable to do anything about it. The background to this was a ruling by the High Court, which blocked the city's new rental rules.

These rules, which have been in force since 2019, are intended to ensure that city apartments are used more efficiently and are not occupied by the wealthy. The Rental Ordinance (VGV) stipulates that the number of residents in a city apartment may only be one less than the number of rooms.

So if you live alone in a three-room apartment, you will have to reckon with new regulations. In addition, tenants may not earn more than six times the gross rent, and assets of more than CHF 200,000 may also have an impact on the tenancy.

These rules apply to around 2,700 tenancy agreements that have been concluded since January 1, 2019. However, the city also tried to adjust older tenancy agreements retrospectively, which led to resistance.

Consequences still open

Two tenants, including the woman in the six-room house, took legal action against this retrospective adjustment and were upheld in two instances. The Zurich High Court ruled that such contract amendments were inadmissible and that the tenants' income should not suddenly become a reason for termination.

However, the Federal Supreme Court has now overturned these rulings and dismissed the claims. The exact reasons for this decision are still unclear and the reasons for the ruling are still pending.

The City of Zurich and the tenants' association want to analyze the ruling in detail before deciding how to proceed. It remains to be seen what consequences this decision will have for the tenants affected.