Rental interest and share capital

As per the building rights contract with the City of Zurich, the Kalkbreite Cooperative is subject to municipal financial control and – as a non-profit property developer for the residential part of all properties – to the municipal guidelines for housing promotion. All apartments are therefore rented according to standard rental costs and are subject to the municipal rent regulations (further information). Commercial spaces are leased at a moderate market rent.

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Apartment rents are calculated on the basis of the main usable areas, i.e. the actual living space as well as the outside and storage areas belonging to the apartment (loggia, apartment cellar). In the case of cluster apartments, costs for the shared areas are added and for large households, the shared dining room and kitchen on the 2nd floor.

Commercial tenants each have fixed leases limited to five or ten years with renewal options. The rents are determined individually with each tenant on the basis of usable space and location. Revenue-based rents are agreed upon with some tenants in order to facilitate entry.

The use of the common and outdoor areas available to all tenants (residential and commercial) is included in the rent.

Grading of apartment rents

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The calculation model for apartment rents allows space prices to be graded according to the size and quality of the apartment. This is intended to promote social mixing, as enables low-income tenants, for example, to occupy low-cost housing even if they are not entitled to subsidized housing. The gradation criteria are as follows:

  • Number of rooms: The construction costs per square meter decreases as the size of the apartment increases. For example, a surcharge of around 8.5 % is calculated on the floor space price of a 1.5-room apartment compared with a 4.5-room apartment.

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  • Floor: The quality of light and visibility from floor to floor (5th and 6th floors are higher than the roofs of most of the surrounding buildings) is taken into account – starting from the 4th floor as the standard floor – a floor surcharge or deduction of around 10.0 % per floor is factored into the rent price.
  • Orientation: In the case of individual flats, which are particularly preferred or not preferred due to their location (e.g. one-sided orientation of the cluster flats towards the courtyard or street), an additional surcharge or deduction is calculated in the rent.

 

Additional apartments costs

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Due to the provisions of the municipal rent regulations, only costs for heating and ventilation, hot water, general electricity and staircase cleaning can be shown as actual ancillary costs. In order to be able to charge further consumption-dependent costs specific to the Kalkbreite property as well as the solidarity contributions laid down in the statutes, the cooperative has agreed to the following allocation of the rental components with the Municipal Office for Housing Subsidies:

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  • Net rent 2: Kalkbreite-specific costs, which are either dependent on individual consumption (cold water), levied on the basis of the organizational regulations (reception services) or dependent on the extent of voluntary work by the residents (care of roof gardens). These costs are part of the net rent and are billed annually.
  • Ancillary costs: Ancillary costs include the costs permitted by the rental regulations of the City of Zurich and are billed annually according to consumption.
  • Statutory contributions: A contribution to the Solidarity Fund is levied in accordance with the Statutes.

Subsidization

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In order to enable low-income households to move into an apartment, a total of eleven apartments of different sizes have been subsidized by the city and canton at the Kalkbreite estate:

  • 2 one-person apartments (1.5-room apartments)
  • 1 studio apartment (2.5-room apartment)
  • 2 two-person apartments (3-room apartments)
  • 6 family apartments (4.5 and 5.5 room apartments)

The net rent of subsidized dwellings is reduced by around 15% compared to the standard rent. Income limits apply to tenants of subsidized housing. Detailed information can be found in the leaflet “Requirements for tenants” issued by the cantonal office for housing subsidies.

Solidarity fund

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In order to support households with lower financial resources in financing fund share, and in cases where the rent is too high for the household budget, a fund was set up with which residents help each other out in solidarity. A certain amount is charged per month on each monthly rent to feed the fund.

Download Solidarity Fund Regulations (german only)

Share Capital

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As the Kalkbreite property is bound to the City of Zurich, the municipal pension fund participates in the financing at a loan-to-value ratio of up to 94%. Consequently, the cooperative requires a comparatively low equity ratio of 6 %. The majority of the required share capital must be contributed by the residential and commercial tenants with the compulsory share capital calculated in proportion to the usable space occupied. This amounts to CHF 260/m2 of main usable space. In addition, external cooperative members as well as a dozen Zurich housing

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cooperatives and the City of Zurich also hold a part of the share capital. After concluding the rental agreement, tenants have the option of contributing their share capital or part of it from the savings capital of their pension fund. The portion of the mandatory share capital that serves as rent security (around three months’ rent) may not be drawn from the pension fund. The share capital is not subject to interest in accordance with the Statutes.