The Verweilbonus: Why Zurich's Rental Market isn’t efficient — and what this has to do with Subletting
The ZKB has measured it. We experience it every day.
Anyone looking for a new apartment in Zurich today pays on average over 30 percent more than someone already living in a comparable place. According to a recent ZKB study, long-term tenants sometimes pay only half of what the current market demands.
The ZKB calls this the Verweilbonus — the staying bonus. And it's growing.
What the Verweilbonus actually means
The term sounds like a reward for staying put — and in a way, it is. Rent law ties existing tenants' rents to historical reference interest rates. The market, meanwhile, will move on. The result: a gap that widens a little more every year.
In the city of Zurich, this gap is particularly large. Nationwide, the Verweilbonus currently stands at 21 percent — in the city of Zurich, it exceeds 30 percent. For comparison: in 2023, it was still 26 percent. The bonus isn't just large; it's also growing fast.
Why this paralyses the market
This is where the real problem lies — and it's not an individual one, but a structural one.
Take a concrete example: a couple whose children have moved out has been living in a 4.5-room apartment for twenty years. They no longer need that much space. The logical move would be to downsize. The catch: the smaller apartment available on the market today would cost more than the large one they're already in.
So they stay. Perfectly rational from a personal standpoint. A malfunction from an economic one. The market can't do its job. Housing is misallocated. Families who need space can't find a large apartment. The couple stays in a home that no longer fits their life.
SMART DEPART doesn't like inefficiencies. Vacant apartments least of all.
Fight the system — or work with it?
This reality isn't new. And it won't be easy to fix — rent law is what it is, and meaningful reform isn't on the horizon. You can be frustrated by the distortions. Or you can accept the framework and act sensibly within its logic.
My own take: giving up my affordable apartment for a year abroad would simply be irrational. The search afterwards would be exhausting, the loss of an established neighborhood painful — and in the end I'd be paying significantly more. So I press pause on the rent instead.
And that's exactly what subletting is for.
Subletting: pause button for main tenants — and a way in for subtenants
Subletting allows main tenants to pass on their apartment temporarily without giving it up. The rent keeps running — just not out of their own pocket. SMART DEPART manages the whole process: from finding the right tenant to drafting the contract to the handover.
What many people don't realize: the model is attractive for subtenants too. Rent law allows a maximum surcharge of 20 percent on the main tenant's net rent — including furnishings and full equipment. This means that anyone moving into a furnished sublet indirectly benefits from the main tenant's staying bonus. The subtenant gets a comparatively affordable apartment — even without long-standing connections or personal networks.
What this means in the bigger picture
The housing shortage in Swiss cities is real. So are rising prices. SMART DEPART doesn't solve these problems — that would be presumptuous.
But together with our clients, we bring a few more apartments to market. Apartments that would otherwise sit empty because the main tenant is abroad for a year or taking a career break. Every apartment that isn't vacant is one more apartment for someone who needs it.
We didn't invent the Verweilbonus. But we help put it to good use — for everyone.
Source: ZKB Immobilien aktuell, May 2026