Sublease Contract Switzerland: free template to fill in (PDF & Word) – plus the rent check that saves you from eviction
Three months abroad for a semester, and the Swiss flatshare room shouldn't eat money while empty: so you sublet. That's allowed. But one forgotten sentence, a missing consent or too high a sublet rent can cost you the whole flat. Here is the free template that makes your sublease watertight in two minutes. Plus the ConvivaPlus Sublet Rent Traffic Light: it calculates the way the Federal Supreme Court does and shows you live whether your price is still permissible under Art. 262 CO.
🏛️ What's allowed in Switzerland – and what isn't
The biggest myth first: your landlord cannot simply forbid you from subletting, however much he likes to claim it. Subletting is a legally anchored right in Switzerland, not a favour. Art. 262 CO lets you sublet your flat or a room, in whole or in part. The only condition: his consent. And he can't refuse it on a whim.
The law lists exactly three grounds on which your landlord may say no. If none of them applies, consent is deemed given – if he stays silent in the face of a correct request, that can even be read as tacit consent. That's why it's so important to disclose the conditions in writing and in full.
Your landlord may refuse consent to subletting only if:
📝 Your sublease contract in 2 minutes
A sublease needs no written form, but its termination does. Art. 266l CO requires written notice for residential premises and, if you give notice as the main tenant, your canton's official form as well; the steps are on terminating a sublease. That is why the notice period goes straight into the contract. Twelve fields, two minutes, and you have a contract ready to sign. Download the PDF, print it, both sign. You can also copy the text into Word.
🛠️ Sublease contract generator
Fill in the fields → ready contract as PDF or to copy. Free, no sign-up.
✅ Is your sublease even permitted? (CO Art. 262)
78,175 votes: that is how close Switzerland came to making subletting harder. On 24 November 2024 voters rejected an amendment to Art. 262 CO with 48.4 % in favour. It would have required a written request and written consent and let landlords refuse a sublet of more than two years. So the current law applies: Art. 262 CO requires your landlord's consent, which may be refused on three grounds only. The check tells you in four questions whether you are on the safe side.
✅ Admissibility check: is your sublease permitted?
Four questions under CO Art. 262: the traffic light shows whether your sublease has the green light or you need to fix something.
Have you obtained your landlord's consent for the sublease?
Have you disclosed the terms (sublet rent, to whom, for how long)?
Does your sublet rent stay without excessive profit (at most the proportional rent + a reasonable surcharge)?
Have you drawn up a written sublease agreement?
🚦 The sublet-rent traffic light: is your price still permissible?
In 1993 the Federal Supreme Court also ruled on a cup of coffee. A Geneva tenant wanted to sublet two furnished rooms; the subtenants could use the kitchen only to make coffee. The cantonal court counted 5 % of one room's rent for that and added 20 % for the furniture. The rents demanded were 30 to 40 % above that amount, and the Federal Supreme Court found them manifestly abusive (BGE 119 II 353, decision in French). That is exactly how the ConvivaPlus Sublet Rent Traffic Light calculates: proportional main rent, furniture surcharge, then the abuse limit of Art. 262 CO. In one second you see whether your price is green, amber or red.
🚦 ConvivaPlus sublet-rent traffic light
Checks under Art. 262 CO whether your planned sublet rent is permissible, borderline or abusive.
Your sublet rent stays within bounds. The markup is in the range justified by furniture and effort. Still: disclose the terms in writing.
Guidance based on BGE 119 II 353, not a percentage fixed by law. In a dispute, the conciliation authority decides on the basis of the actual services provided.
How the ConvivaPlus Sublet Rent Traffic Light calculates, following BGE 119 II 353: the base is your proportional main rent. Furnished, 20 % is added (in the leading case 15 % for furniture and risk plus 5 % for a well-furnished room, not faulted by the Federal Supreme Court); unfurnished, no surcharge. Above that the light turns amber: any extra needs genuine additional services. Red from 30 % above that amount, a difference the court held to be manifestly abusive. The ruling works per room (main rent divided by the rooms excluding the kitchen); if you sublet one room, enter 100 divided by the number of rooms as your share. This grid rests, according to ConvivaPlus, on that one leading case.
📋 What must be in the sublease contract
Your subtenant's deposit does not belong in your account. Under Art. 257e CO, a cash deposit must be placed by the landlord, in a sublet that means you, in a savings or deposit account at a bank in the tenant's name, at most three months' rent (no official English version of the CO exists; paraphrased by ConvivaPlus). How the subtenant gets it back at the end is on reclaim your rental deposit. A handshake and a "we'll sort it"? Before the conciliation authority that counts for nothing. A sublease that holds needs seven building blocks; the generator above includes all of them. Here is why each protects your money.
| Block | What must be in it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Parties | Full name + address of sublessor and subtenant | Who's liable, who pays – without clear parties, no enforceable contract. |
| Object | Exact designation + address + condition (furnished?) | Defines what is let and whether a furniture surcharge is justified. |
| Rent | Sublet rent + utilities, shown separately | Basis for the abuse check under Art. 262 CO. |
| Duration | Fixed (date) or open-ended + notice period | Fixed ends automatically; open-ended needs a clear notice period. |
| Deposit | Amount + refund condition (max. 3 months' rent) | Protects you from damage, protects the subtenant from arbitrariness. |
| Consent | Confirmation that the landlord has consented | Without it, the whole sublet is challengeable (Art. 262 CO). |
| Signatures | Place, date + signature of both parties | Makes the contract a valid, provable document. |
⚠️ The 5 costliest subletting mistakes
Every misstep of your subtenant lands on you. Under Art. 262 para. 3 CO, the tenant is liable to the landlord for the subtenant using the property only as the tenant is permitted to (There is no official English version of the Code of Obligations; wording paraphrased by ConvivaPlus.) That is why the five mistakes below cost money, or the flat itself.
Not obtaining consent. The most common – and most dangerous – mistake. Subletting without consent is a breach of the lease. After a written warning, your landlord may terminate extraordinarily. Always ask first, preferably in writing.
Charging too much. A profit not covered by services gives your landlord one of the three grounds for refusal (Art. 262 para. 2 let. b CO). Subletting anyway puts your own lease at risk. Use the light above.
Forgetting you're fully liable. If your subtenant doesn't pay or wrecks the flat, you answer to the landlord – for the entire rent and every damage. A deposit and a clean contract are your only protection.
Only an oral agreement. "We know each other" regularly ends in disaster before the conciliation authority. Without a written contract you're empty-handed in a dispute. Two minutes of generator save months of trouble.
Ignoring notice periods. The sublease has deadlines too. For an open-ended flat sublet, the statutory periods apply by analogy (flat: 3 months to a term). Set it out clearly in the contract.
Subletting is your right – as long as you make not a single franc of profit and have consent.
✅ A valid sublease contract in 5 steps
No court will work out the right sublet rent for you. In a dispute over consent it only checks whether yours is abusive, and it does not fix the permissible amount in its ruling (BGE 119 II 353, decision in French). So you set the price yourself, before you ask. Here are the five steps from request to signature.
If your landlord stays silent in the face of a correct, complete sublease request, that may count as tacit consent. That's exactly why you ask in writing with all the terms – so that, in case of doubt, you create the proof that he could have objected and didn't.
What's your situation?
One click – anonymous, no sign-up required.
All templates are below, ready to copy — no sign-up, no cost.
Open the template as PDF❓ Frequent questions about the sublease contract
The questions buzzing in your head before every sublet, answered short and honest.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
No. A general ban on subletting in the lease is ineffective. The landlord may only refuse on the three legal grounds.
Terminate a sublease →You set this in the contract – cleanest is a separate amount on top of the sublet rent. The generator shows utilities separately.
To the generator →In writing and respecting the agreed notice. For an open-ended flat sublet, the statutory periods apply by analogy (3 months to a term).
Terminate a sublease →All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
Subletting is a legal right in Switzerland (Art. 262 CO) – your landlord may only say no on three grounds. But: you may make no profit, and you remain liable for the entire rent even if your subtenant doesn't pay.
Also worth reading
More tenancy law and templates
Discussion
6 voices from the community
Endlich mal eine Vorlage, die auch sagt, wie viel ich verlangen DARF. Die Ampel ist bei meinem Wunschpreis sofort auf Rot gesprungen, 41 Prozent Aufschlag. Peinlich, aber tausendmal besser jetzt als vor der Schlichtungsbehörde.
Der Satz mit der Haftung hat mich kalt erwischt. Mein letzter Untermieter ist abgehauen ohne zu zahlen, und ich durfte die ganze Miete weiterberappen. Hätte ich das vorher gewusst, hätte ich auf einer Kaution bestanden.
Genau darum predigen wir die Kaution, Tobias. Bis drei Monatsmieten auf ein Sperrkonto im Namen des Untermieters, dann bist du bei einem Zahlungsausfall nicht komplett blank. Danke fürs Teilen, das ist die Lektion, die der Artikel verhindern will.
Mein Vermieter meinte, Untervermieten sei in meinem Vertrag «generell verboten». Dank dem Artikel wusste ich: so eine Klausel ist gar nicht gültig. Konditionen sauber offengelegt, und plötzlich war das Nein weg. Wissen ist Macht.
Ha nid gwüsst, dass me bim möblierte Zimmer öppe 20 Prozent druufschla darf. Bi mir hets grad knapp grüen ggä. Sehr fair erklärt, ohni Juriste-Chauderwälsch.
Generator in zwei Minuten ausgefüllt, als PDF dem Vermieter geschickt, Zustimmung kam am nächsten Morgen. Drei Jahre lang habe ich vor solchen Verträgen Bammel gehabt, völlig umsonst.
ConvivaPlus Editor · Law & Housing
Writes about tenancy, contract and everyday law – legal texts turned into vetted templates.
- Tenancy law
- Contract law
- Templates
- Housing
Found an error or have feedback? Let us know or write to us directly.