What tenants need to know: Do landlords have to lower the rent for sauna apartments?

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Many residents of ancient buildings can only dream of restful and peaceful sleep on the current tropical nights. Poor insulation and lack of cooling will cause the pointer on the thermometer to rise to 25, 26, 27 or more degrees. If you still live in a loft apartment, you may find yourself frying scrambled eggs on the window sill and getting pitying looks in the office.

Sleepless nights, whether at work or at work, impair performance. Working from home in an apartment like this becomes torture, but what if the heat in the rental gets unbearable? Are tenants entitled to a rent reduction?

This applies to new buildings.

According to the Code of Obligations, a rented item must be delivered in accordance with its intended use and received in the same way. If there is a defect, the tenant can request that it be repaired or that the rental price be reduced.

From a tenant perspective, this sounds good at first glance. Also, the Federal Supreme Court ruled in 2016: The normal temperature for an apartment is 20 to 21 degrees and 19 to 20 degrees according to the Minergie standard. If the temperature is now 3 to 5 degrees higher for a longer period of time, there is a defect. Tenants are then entitled to a rent reduction. However, this only applies to new buildings.

This applies to old buildings.

It is much more difficult to obtain a rental discount for tenants of an old building: The same cannot be expected from an old building in terms of thermal insulation. In a 2005 decision, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that what is still considered an appropriate condition largely depends on the age of the house and the rental price. If you live in a cheap old apartment, you have to endure more heat in your apartment.

If the temperature rises above 25 degrees for several days in a row, the tenant can be expected to lower the shutters or buy a fan. If that doesn’t help either, a rent reduction for an apartment in an old building can actually fall into the realm of possibilities.

Source :Blick