Is a verbal tenancy agreement valid in Switzerland?

Yes. Art. 253 CO does not require written form; it is enough that a thing is handed over for use and a rent is agreed. Writing is strongly advised, because in a dispute the evidence counts.

How high may the rent deposit be at most?

For residential property, at most three months' rent (Art. 257e CO), paid into a blocked account in the tenant's name. For commercial premises there is no statutory ceiling.

Do I have to pay utility costs if they aren't in the lease?

No. Utility costs are only owed if expressly and individually agreed (Art. 257a para. 2 CO), otherwise they count as included in the net rent.

What is the official-form requirement for the initial rent?

In nine cantons the landlord must, in a housing shortage, disclose the initial rent on an official form (Art. 270 para. 2 CO). The rent is then challengeable within 30 days of taking over.

📄 Templates

Create a tenancy agreement: free template (PDF) – and the generator that builds you a Swiss CO-compliant lease in 2 minutes

In Switzerland a tenancy agreement is valid even verbally – and that is exactly what gets expensive when nothing is in writing and it becomes one person's word against the other's. People drafting a lease usually make three mistakes: a deposit that's too high, utility costs without a basis and clauses that don't hold up in court. Here is the free template that prevents that – plus three tools no one else has: a tenancy-agreement generator, a deposit calculator and the official-form radar for your canton.

Key takeaway

A tenancy agreement needs just two things to be valid: a rental object and a rent (Art. 253 CO) – writing isn't mandatory, but strongly advised. In writing you should include: the parties, the object, the net rent, the start date and – if agreed – utility costs and the deposit. Utility costs are only owed if expressly agreed (Art. 257a para. 2 CO), otherwise they are included in the rent. The deposit for residential property may not exceed 3 months' rent and must go into a blocked account in your name (Art. 257e CO). Clauses to your disadvantage that deviate from mandatory law are void (Art. 256 para. 2 CO).

Jump to the Swiss Rental Deposit Calculator

1 July 2026 · Sources: CO Art. 253–270 · FHO · Tenants' Association · HEV·

Create a tenancy agreement Switzerland: signed residential lease with two pens, apartment keys and a calculator on a light wooden table

Art. 253

makes the lease valid

object + rent, even verbal suffices

max. 3

months' rent deposit

ceiling for residential property (CO 257e)

9 cantons

with form requirement

initial rent challengeable within 30 days

0 CHF

the template is free

the generator builds the whole lease

Contents

🏛️ What makes a tenancy agreement valid in Switzerland

The most surprising fact first: a tenancy agreement is valid in Switzerland even without a signature. Art. 253 CO requires just two things – the landlord hands over a thing for use, the tenant pays a rent. A handshake or a WhatsApp confirmation is legally enough. Even so, never move in without a written lease: not because the law demands it, but because in any later dispute – deposit, utility costs, damage – the evidence decides. For an overview of all tenancy-law templates, see the tenant & landlord hub.

Tenancy law is largely mandatory law: much of it cannot be changed to your disadvantage, no matter what was signed. A deposit above three months' rent, utility costs without an agreement, or a clause releasing the landlord from the handover duty – all of that is void (Art. 256 para. 2 CO), even if it's in the lease. That's where the generator below comes in: it only phrases what holds, and warns where an entry breaks the law.

Three clauses the landlord may NOT write in to your disadvantage

Even if they're in the lease and you signed – these three are void:

Deposit above 3 months' rent

For residential property, more than three months' rent is unlawful (Art. 257e para. 2 CO). A clause with '4 months' deposit' is invalid for the excess part – you only have to provide three.

Utility costs without an express agreement

Utility costs are only owed if specially agreed and itemised in the lease (Art. 257a para. 2 CO). Without that, they count as included in the net rent – even if the landlord later sends invoices.

Handover 'as seen', landlord's duty waived

The landlord must hand over and maintain the apartment in a suitable condition (Art. 256 CO). A standard-terms clause shifting this is void for residential and commercial premises (Art. 256 para. 2 CO).

Context

Rule of thumb for signing: what isn't in the lease applies by law – and the law is tenant-friendly. A short, clean lease therefore often protects you better than a 12-page form full of add-on clauses, half of which are void anyway. When termination comes, the lease termination with date calculator guides you through the deadlines.

📝 The ConvivaPlus tenancy-agreement generator

Fill in the fields and the generator builds you a complete residential lease, structured under the CO – with parties, object, rent, utility costs, deposit, handover and termination. You can download it as a PDF or copy the text. The built-in checker raises the alarm if the deposit exceeds three months' rent.

Tenancy-agreement generator (residential)

Fill in the fields → ready CO lease as PDF. Nothing is stored, everything runs in your browser.

Landlord (name, address)

Tenant (name/s, address)

Rental object (street, place)

Apartment (rooms, floor, extra rooms)

Start of tenancy

Net rent (CHF/month)

Utility costs advance (CHF/month)

Deposit (CHF)

Duration

Special agreements (pets, parking, subletting …)

🧩 The mandatory building blocks of a clean lease

For the lease to hold in a dispute, these building blocks belong in it. The first two are the essentialia (without them, no contract), the rest protect you from the most expensive gaps:

The parties

CO 253

Landlord and all tenants with full name and address. Several tenants are jointly and severally liable for the whole rent.

The rental object

CO 253

Describe the apartment precisely: address, floor, number of rooms, extra rooms (cellar, attic, parking). What isn't named is not let.

The net rent

CO 257

The pure rent per month, separate from utility costs. Due date: monthly in advance, unless otherwise agreed.

Utility-cost mode

CO 257a/b

Advance (with statement) or flat rate – and itemised. Without an express agreement they are included in the rent.

Start & duration

CO 255

Move-in date and whether open-ended or fixed-term. A fixed-term lease ends without notice – but also without an early exit right.

The deposit

CO 257e

Amount (max. 3 months' rent) and the reference to the blocked account in the tenant's name. Without the account detail, refund disputes loom.

Termination rule

CO 266c

Periods and dates. If the lease is silent, the law applies (3 months for residential). Shorter periods in the tenant's favour are allowed.

Signatures

CO 266m

Both parties. For a family home, both spouses must sign, otherwise a later termination is challengeable.

Context

The most common gap mistake: forgetting the handover protocol. It isn't part of the lease, but without it you end up liable for every scratch you can't prove. Record the condition at move-in with photos and a protocol – that's what later decides your deposit.

🔐 Deposit calculator: what's allowed – and where the money belongs

The deposit is the most frequent point of dispute, already at signing. Two rules are mandatory: for residential property, at most three months' rent is allowed (Art. 257e CO), and the money must go into a blocked account in your name. Work out what is allowed at most in your case:

Deposit calculator

Enter your gross monthly rent (net + utility-cost advance) – we show the permitted ceiling.

Gross monthly rent (CHF)

Where the money belongs: in a rent deposit account (blocked account) held exclusively in your name (Art. 257e CO). The landlord may not put it into their own account. This way your money is protected even if the landlord goes bankrupt. Alternatively there are rent-deposit insurances – they tie up no capital but cost an annual premium.

Guide value under Art. 257e CO. The agreed rent is decisive; when in doubt, ask the Tenants' Association.

verified · ConvivaPlus

Method: the ceiling is 3 × the gross monthly rent (net rent including the agreed utility-cost advance). For commercial premises there is no statutory ceiling. Source: Art. 257e para. 2 CO.

🚦 The ConvivaPlus official-form radar (initial rent)

At signing lurks the biggest wasted advantage: in nine cantons the landlord must disclose the initial rent to you on an official form and justify it (Art. 270 para. 2 CO). Where that applies, you can challenge the rent within 30 days of taking over – especially after a tenant change, when the previous tenant paid less. Choose your canton:

Official-form radar 2026

Which canton is the apartment in? The radar shows whether the initial rent can be challenged.

Canton

Cantons with a form requirement (as of 2026)

Canton	Scope	Challenge
Zurich (ZH)	canton-wide	30 days
Bern (BE)	canton-wide	30 days
Lucerne (LU)	canton-wide	30 days
Zug (ZG)	canton-wide	30 days
Fribourg (FR)	canton-wide	30 days
Basel-Stadt (BS)	canton-wide	30 days
Vaud (VD)	certain municipalities	30 days
Neuchâtel (NE)	certain municipalities	30 days
Geneva (GE)	canton-wide	30 days

Data basis: the ConvivaPlus-Index for the form requirement, as of 2026. Other templates assume a lease is the same everywhere; we research the form requirement canton by canton. According to ConvivaPlus (analysis of the cantonal FHO data 2026, official register 'Form requirement for notifying the initial rent'), it exists in the cantons ZH, BE, LU, FR, BS, ZG, GE plus, by municipality, VD and NE. The requirement only applies in a housing shortage (vacancy rate below the cantonal threshold, often 1.5%). Since 1 Oct 2025 the form must also show the previous reference interest rate and inflation.

Already further into the tenancy?

Terminate a lease with date calculator →The earliest valid date under Art. 266a CO.

Reclaim the rent deposit →How the bank releases your deposit – even without the landlord's signature.

💡 Utility costs in the lease: advance, flat rate or included?

The sentence that decides hundreds of francs a year is often in the fine print. Utility costs are only owed if expressly agreed and itemised (Art. 257a para. 2 CO). How they are charged makes the difference:

Advance + statement

You pay a monthly advance, settled once a year. Actual consumption counts.

✅Fair, you only pay real consumption; transparent thanks to the statement.

⚠️Additional payment possible if the advance was set too low.

Flat rate

A fixed amount per month, no statement. Over- or under-coverage stays with the landlord or you.

✅Predictable, no extra payment, no statement dispute.

⚠️You can't demand a refund, even if consumption was lower.

Included in the rent

No utility-cost item is agreed – everything is in the net rent.

✅Maximum simplicity, a single amount.

⚠️The landlord can't later claim utility costs – rather an advantage for you.

Context

Insider tip: if the lease doesn't itemise utility costs ('utility costs flat rate CHF 250' without a breakdown), the item is attackable. The landlord may only charge actually agreed, named items (heating, hot water, caretaker …). Details on the statement in the utility-cost statement guide.

⚠️ Lease traps & clauses that are worthless

These clauses keep cropping up in leases – and don't hold up before the conciliation authority. If you see them, you don't have to accept them:

⚠️

'Deposit of 4 or 6 months' rent': unlawful for residential property above 3 months' rent (Art. 257e CO). The excess part is invalid.

⚠️

'Advance in cash to the landlord' instead of into the blocked account: contrary to Art. 257e CO. Insist on the account in your name.

⚠️

'Final cleaning by a specialist firm at the tenant's expense' imposed across the board: you only owe a normal cleaning; 'professional' can't be forced, normal wear is at the landlord's expense.

⚠️

'Tenant bears all repairs': no – only minor maintenance (small defects up to ~150 CHF) is at your expense (Art. 259 CO), major repairs are paid by the landlord.

⚠️

'Contractual penalty for early move-out': unlawful if you provide an acceptable replacement tenant (Art. 264 CO) – you then get out without penalty.

⚠️

'Waiver of termination for 5 years' at the tenant's expense: a unilateral waiver by the tenant is only valid to a very limited extent; when in doubt, challengeable.

A lease doesn't protect you by its length, but by its cleanliness. What isn't in it, the law settles – and the law is usually on your side.

💎 Golden nugget

On a tenant change, an often-overlooked trick applies: in cantons with a form requirement, the landlord must disclose the previous tenant's rent to you on the form. If you suddenly pay CHF 300 more than they did without a comprehensible reason, that's a classic challenge case – and you have 30 days from taking over for it. Those who check the form right at move-in secure on average a noticeable reduction.

📊

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