Request a rent reduction: how to claw back hundreds of francs a year thanks to the falling reference rate, with a free calculator, a ready-made template letter and the deadline trick for the next notice date
The mortgage reference rate stands at 1.25 percent, yet your rent acts as if we were still in the high-rate year of 2023. If your rent is based on 1.75 percent, your landlord owes you around 5.7 percent less rent, which on CHF 1'800 net is over 1'200 francs a year. The catch: he won't tell you on his own. Here is the calculator that pins down your claim to the franc, the ready-made reduction letter and the deadline calculator that reveals the last day you're still on time.
💡 Before you calculate: when are you really entitled to a reduction?
Most rents in Switzerland hang on a single figure: the mortgage reference rate. The Federal Office for Housing (FOH) announces it quarterly, rounded to the nearest quarter percent. When it rises, landlords may raise the rent; when it falls, you are symmetrically entitled to a reduction. It currently stands at 1.25 percent (as of 2 June 2026). Anyone still sitting on a rent calculated at 1.50, 1.75 or even 2.00 percent is simply paying too much.
The decisive sentence almost no one knows: the reduction is not automatic. While increases are actively served by the landlord on an official form, you must request the reduction yourself (Art. 270a CO). If you don't, the landlord keeps the difference, entirely legally. That is exactly why this page exists: it tells you whether you're entitled, how much, and hands you the letter and the deadlines. Just one point up front: your current rent must be based on a higher reference rate than today, otherwise there is nothing to claim.
Here is how what lands in your account is made up (always on the net rent, never on the service charges):
🧮 How much are you entitled to? The ConvivaPlus rent-reduction calculator
No more guessing. Enter your current net rent and the reference rate it is based on (shown in your last rent-adjustment notice), and the ConvivaPlus rent-reduction calculator shows you the gross claim in a second, deducts inflation and the cost flat rate, and gives you the enforceable reduction in percent and francs, per month and per year. No other Swiss portal breaks down the three building blocks this transparently.
🧮 ConvivaPlus rent-reduction calculator
Enter the net rent and base reference rate → enforceable reduction in % and CHF, inflation and cost flat rate already deducted.
Guide value without guarantee. The exact reduction depends on the individual case (date of last setting, agreed reservations). Indexed or stepped rents follow special rules.
How the ConvivaPlus rent-reduction calculator works: we count the 0.25-point steps from the base reference rate down to the current rate (1.25%) and apply the official rate at each step (2.91% below 5%, 2.44% between 5 and 6%, 1.96% above), compounded multiplicatively. From the gross claim we deduct 40% of your entered inflation plus 0.5% per year as a cost flat rate. The result is the enforceable reduction according to ConvivaPlus, a guide value in line with the practice of the conciliation authorities.
✉️ Your reduction request in 2 minutes
You know your claim, now you need the letter. Enter your details and the generator builds you a formally correct rent-reduction request addressed to the landlord: it cites the fallen reference rate, requests the reduction for the next notice date and sets the statutory 30-day reply deadline. Download the PDF, sign, send by registered mail, done. You can also copy the text.
🛠️ Rent-reduction request generator
Enter your details → ready-made reduction request with reference-rate reasoning and deadline, as PDF or to copy. Free, no sign-up.
🚦 Are you actually entitled? The eligibility check
Before you send the letter, clarify in a second whether the effort pays off. The ConvivaPlus eligibility check asks you four questions and shows whether you clearly have a claim (green), should check more closely (amber) or whether there is currently no rate-based claim (red).
🚦 ConvivaPlus eligibility check
Four questions, and you know whether you can request a rent reduction.
Is your rent based on a reference rate above 1.25% (e.g. 1.5% or 1.75%)?
Has the last reference-rate cut already been credited to you?
Have you agreed an indexed or stepped rent?
Is the next notice date more than 3 months (notice period) away?
How the ConvivaPlus eligibility check judges: if your rent is based on a higher reference rate and the reduction has not yet been passed on, the claim is clear (green). For an indexed or stepped rent, or a rent already at 1.25%, the rate-based claim falls away (red). Everything in between means: recalculate (amber). This classification is the reading according to ConvivaPlus, derived from Art. 270a CO and the OBLF.
📅 By when must you act? The deadline calculator
For the reduction request, timing decides the money: the reduction only applies from the next notice date, and your request must reach the landlord before the notice period expires. Enter the next notice date and the ConvivaPlus deadline calculatorgives you the last day to send, the landlord's 30-day reply deadline and the deadline to then apply to the conciliation authority.
📅 ConvivaPlus deadline calculator
Enter the next notice date → last day to send, reply deadline and conciliation deadline at a glance.
Guide values without guarantee. Your specific tenancy agreement and the locally customary dates are decisive. Always send the request by registered mail.
How the ConvivaPlus deadline calculator works: the last send-by day is the notice date minus the notice period (Art. 270a in conjunction with the notice periods under Art. 266c/266d CO). On receipt the landlord has 30 days to reply; if he refuses or stays silent, you have a further 30 days to apply to the conciliation authority. These deadlines are the reading according to ConvivaPlus, derived from Art. 270a CO.
📊 The ConvivaPlus reduction matrix and the rate history
So you can see at a glance what's at stake: the ConvivaPlus reduction matrix shows you, depending on the reference rate your rent is based on, the enforceable gross reduction down to the current rate of 1.25%. Below it, the history of the reference rate, so you can spot in which rate phase your rent was last set.
| Rent based on | Steps to 1.25% | Gross reduction |
|---|---|---|
| 1.50% | 1 step | 2.91% |
| 1.75% | 2 steps | 5.74% |
| 2.00% | 3 steps | 8.48% |
| 2.25% | 4 steps | 11.14% |
| 2.50% | 5 steps | 13.73% |
Gross values before deducting inflation and the cost flat rate (all steps are below 5%, hence 2.91% per step, compounded multiplicatively). Your net amount is calculated by the calculator above.
History of the reference rate
Source: BWO-Bekanntgaben (admin.ch/de/referenzzinssatz)
How the ConvivaPlus reduction matrix is built: we count the 0.25-point steps from the respective base reference rate down to the current rate (1.25%) and compound the official reduction rate of 2.91% per step multiplicatively. The history data come, according to the ConvivaPlus analysis, from the FOH announcements.
⚠️ The five most expensive mistakes in a reduction request
Whoever avoids these mistakes gets the reduction faster and in full:
Waiting for the landlord. The reduction never comes by itself, you must request it actively (Art. 270a CO). Every month without a request is lost money, because the reduction only applies from the next notice date after your request.
Missing the notice date. Your request must reach the landlord before the notice period (usually 3 months) expires. Too late means: only the next date. The deadline calculator tells you the last day to send.
Counting only the rate effect.Whoever demands 5.7% while ignoring inflation and the cost flat rate rightly invites the landlord's pushback. Calculate net and your request is watertight.
Not sending by registered mail. Without proof of delivery you cannot prove in a dispute that and when you filed the request. Always by registered mail, and keep a copy.
Giving up if refused. If the landlord does not respond or refuses, you have 30 days to apply to the conciliation authority. The procedure is free of charge (Art. 113 CPC) and very effective in tenant-friendly cases.
The reduction is yours, but only if you request it. Whoever waits gives the landlord money every month.
✅ The rent reduction in 6 steps
Here is how to get the reduction step by step, from the last adjustment notice to your account:
The timing trick: you don't have to wait for the next rate change. As long as your rent is based on a higher reference rate, you can reduce it at any time for the next notice date. The smart move is to file the request early and check in parallel whether, at the 2023 increase, all reservations were correctly declared, because an unreserved ground for increase cannot be added later. Whoever combines both sometimes recovers more than the pure rate calculation promises.
Have you ever requested a rent reduction?
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❓ Frequently asked questions about the rent reduction
The key questions about rent reductions when the reference rate falls, answered briefly and concretely.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
For every 0.25-point step the reference rate has fallen below 5 percent, you are entitled to around 2.91 percent less net rent, but only if you actively request the reduction for the next notice date (Art. 270a CO).
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Discussion
8 voices from the community
Hätte nie gedacht, dass ich das selber verlangen muss. Meine Miete war noch auf 1,75 % gerechnet. Mit dem Rechner kam ich auf gut 5 % netto, der Brief war in fünf Minuten draussen. Verwaltung hat nach drei Wochen zugestimmt. Über 1100 Franken im Jahr, einfach so liegen gelassen bisher.
Merci fürs Teilen, Reto. Genau das ist der Punkt: Die Senkung kommt nie von selbst. Schön, hat es so schnell geklappt, und gut, hast du es eingeschrieben verschickt.
Wichtig fand ich den Hinweis mit der Teuerung. Ich hatte zuerst die vollen 5,7 % verlangt, die Verwaltung hat dann mit Teuerung und Unterhalt gegengerechnet. Am Ende waren es noch 4,1 %. Immer noch gut, aber jetzt weiss ich, warum.
Der Frist-Rechner hat mir den Hintern gerettet. Mein Kündigungstermin ist Ende September, ich dachte ich hätte ewig Zeit. Tatsächlich musste der Brief Ende Juni raus wegen der drei Monate Frist. Gerade noch geschafft.
Danke, Marco. Genau dafür ist der Rechner da. Tipp: Stell das Begehren beim nächsten Mal ruhig ein paar Wochen früher, dann hast du Puffer, falls die Post trödelt.
Bei mir war es leider rot: Indexmiete. Wusste gar nicht, dass das einen Unterschied macht. Schade, aber wenigstens habe ich jetzt verstanden, warum die Senkung bei mir nicht greift.
Verwaltung hat einfach nicht geantwortet. Nach 30 Tagen bin ich zur Schlichtungsbehörde, kostenlos, wie hier beschrieben. Zwei Wochen später kam plötzlich die Zustimmung. Manchmal braucht es halt diesen einen Schritt.
Stark, Fatima, und merci fürs Mutmachen. Genau so funktioniert es: Schweigen ist keine Ablehnung, die Schlichtung ist kostenlos und wirkt oft schon durch die blosse Anmeldung.
ConvivaPlus Editorial
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