Find a cooperative apartment in Zurich today.
For two years now, we have been monitoring the cooperatives in and around Zürich, and for about as long we have been sending our popular email notifications about available cooperative apartments. Because we are deeply involved with the cooperatives, we have been able to gather a lot of data and accumulate quite a bit of knowledge in that time. And because we interact closely with apartment seekers on Instagram, we know which topics are on many people’s minds. In this blog post, we’re sharing our insider knowledge about the cooperatives in Zürich with you.
Three quarters of listings in the city of Zürich are only found on the cooperatives’ websites
Anyone looking for an apartment in Zürich can’t avoid Homegate, Flatfox, Newhome, etc. For cooperative apartments, however, these portals are less relevant. Some cooperatives do advertise there, but many listings are not found on such websites. Last year, a full 76% of the listings from cooperatives and foundations (e.g., PWG) in the city of Zürich were posted only on their own websites. The median time they were online was around 2.5 hours. Subscribers to our Suchabo have a clear advantage here: instead of constantly checking different websites, you can rely on receiving all links to available apartments conveniently by email and apply before the listing disappears again.
Don’t hesitate with new-build projects
Every week, various cooperative apartments are listed in Zürich, and anyone subscribed to our Suchabo has solid chances of getting one. It looks even better with new-build projects. When cooperatives renew entire estates, several hundred new apartments are often rented out. Naturally, we monitor these projects and inform our users about the start of leasing. On our blog, we regularly report on such leasing rounds (e.g., Tokeh, Langgrüt and Buchwiesen), and we see the following extremely often: the application window closes much faster than originally announced. We have written an entire article about this. But here’s a key tip: don’t hesitate. Apply right at the time stated as the leasing start. Our Suchabo will remind you.
A 3.5-room cooperative apartment in Zürich costs an average of 1’803 francs per month
Yes, you read that right. On the “regular” market, you now often have to pay over 3'000 francs for a 3.5-room apartment in Zürich. Not so with cooperatives. They use cost-based rent, so prices are significantly lower. It’s similar for apartments with more rooms. Last year, the average 4.5-room cooperative apartment in Zürich cost 2’284 francs; for 5.5 rooms it was 2’548 francs. By the way: municipal apartments—i.e., those offered by the city of Zürich itself—were even cheaper. Here, the average price of a 3.5-room apartment was 1'501 francs. Average rents for 4.5- and 5.5-room apartments were 1'776 and 1’980 francs per month. However, note that municipal apartments have very strict rules regarding maximum income (at least upon moving in…). In short: private providers make enormous profits from rent.
Dogs are unpopular with cooperatives
The most common question we get on Instagram concerns dog ownership. The vast majority of cooperatives in the city of Zürich do not allow dogs. The reasons are varied and include (according to insider information we received from someone at a cooperative) potential damage to properties, noise, and fear of attacks on children. If you have a dog, unfortunately there are very few options for you among cooperatives in Zürich. Familienheim Genossenschaft allows dogs in its single-family homes, the settlement cooperatives Eigengrund and Sunnige Hof allow dogs in part, and the Baugenossenschaft Luegisland allows dogs in some of its properties. It looks better in Winterthur: here, some cooperatives (e.g., GWG, HWG, and WBG Talgut) allow dogs. On our list of cooperatives you can see where dogs are welcome.
Not all cooperatives advertise proportionally the same amount
We’ve observed with interest that the number of listings posted by different cooperatives varies enormously. And often it doesn’t correlate at all with the size of the cooperative. Meaning: some large cooperatives advertise less frequently than smaller ones with fewer apartments. We don’t assume that more immortal people or more people who don’t want to move live in these larger cooperatives. So there must be other reasons for this variability. Some cooperatives presumably still allocate apartments “under the table” and pass them directly to friends or family members. We can’t explain the differences otherwise. It would be nice if this changed so that everyone has a fair chance at an affordable apartment. We would like transparent communication, making it clear to everyone who gets which apartments. What is clear: comparing the number of listings with the housing stock, the following cooperatives perform particularly well: Baugenossenschaft SILU, WBG Talgut, GWG, Wohngenossenschaft Heimet Adliswil, Siedlungsgenossenschaft Sunnige Hof, Gemeinnützige Baugenossenschaft Limattal, BAGESTRA, ASIG Wohngenossenschaft, Baugenossenschaft Frohheim, Bau- und Siedlungsgenossenschaft Höngg, Baugenossenschaft Schönheim and GEWOBAG.
With the Suchabo, 6–7 people find a place every week.
For about a year, we have been collecting data on how often someone is awarded a cooperative apartment in Zürich thanks to the GenossenSchaffen Suchabo. When canceling the subscription, people can optionally indicate whether they found an apartment thanks to us. Alternatively, they leave the field blank. So our figure is likely an underestimate. What is certain: each week, 6–7 former subscribers tell us that they found an apartment thanks to the subscription. Every such message makes us incredibly happy and strengthens us in our mission.
Our birthday gifts to you: WhatsApp and a makeover for our website
Right in time for our 2nd birthday, we’re excited to present two great new features. First, very soon we’ll also send links to available cooperative apartments via WhatsApp. You’ll be able to activate this additional feature in the customer portal. It will cost a bit extra at first, because sending WhatsApp messages is very expensive for us. If prices come down, we’ll, of course, pass that on to you. We’re currently still testing the WhatsApp feature. As soon as everything works perfectly, we’ll inform you by email and on social media.
The second update concerns our website: together with professionals, we’re currently working on a new design. Very soon, everything will look a bit different. The content that many of you appreciate will, of course, remain. We hope the fresh look will make navigation easier. We always welcome feedback on both updates—just contact us by email or via the contact form on our website.
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