A rejection in three steps
- Ask once, briefly. Thank them and ask whether something was missing in your dossier. Some agencies answer, others do not.
- Fix what you control. Complete documents, a current debt enforcement extract, a clear income figure, a short personal cover letter.
- Change the search, not just the effort. More of the same applications in the same price band rarely changes the result.
What the landlord owes you, and what not
- No reason. A lease comes about when both sides agree (Art. 1 OR). A landlord who has several applicants picks one, and the others get a no or no answer.
- Your data. You can ask whether personal data about you is processed and receive it, free of charge and as a rule within 30 days (Art. 25 DSG).
- Deletion. Once the lease with someone else is signed, the landlord has to destroy the forms and attachments of the other applicants, unless you agreed to a waiting list (FDPIC leaflet, 2025).
Where widening the search helps
| City | Median asking rent, all sizes | 3.5 rooms |
|---|---|---|
| Geneva | CHF 3,050 | not in our table |
| Zurich | CHF 2,550 | CHF 3,188 |
| Winterthur | CHF 2,162 | CHF 2,510 |
| Lucerne | CHF 2,060 | CHF 2,378 |
| Bern | CHF 1,924 | CHF 2,200 |
| Basel | CHF 1,755 | CHF 2,120 |
| St. Gallen | CHF 1,512 | CHF 1,602 |
Source: aptari feed, 9 November 2026. Asking rent is the rent shown in the listing, not an official statistic.
Of 33,685 homes with a rent in the feed, 10,253 (30%) ask up to CHF 1,500 and 19,730 (59%) up to CHF 2,000. Winterthur is about CHF 680 a month below Zurich for 3.5 rooms. If your income is the weak point, a lower rent changes the picture more than a nicer letter.
What aptari adds
- Match Score. Each listing shows a score from 0 to 100 for how well you fit: your income against the rent, your checked documents and the listing's smoking and pet rules, with the facts shown. It measures fit, not your chance. Use it to see where your income carries the rent.
- Missing documents. The Tenant Passport shows what is still missing in your dossier.
- More sources. The feed includes about 800 housing cooperative websites next to Homegate, ImmoScout24 and Flatfox.
This is general information, not legal advice.