The building and zoning ordinance: the rulebook that decides on short-term letting — municipality by municipality
Not the canton and not the federal government decides whether you may let short-term — your municipality does, in the building and zoning ordinance.
What is a building and zoning ordinance?
The building and zoning ordinance, BZO for short, is the municipal rulebook that divides a Zurich municipality into zones and sets out for each zone what may be built and how it may be used. It is enacted by the municipality, approved by the canton, and different in every municipality. For short-term letting it is the decisive document — ahead of any yield calculation.
What a building and zoning ordinance contains
The BZO divides the municipal area into zones and says for each what is permitted there. The familiar part concerns construction: height, distances, plot ratio. The part that matters for short-term letting concerns use — not how large a building may be, but what it has to serve.
- Zoning — residential zone, centre zone, quarter conservation zone, industrial and commercial zone and others
- Permitted use per zone — and with it the question of whether a hotel-like operation is allowed there
- Residential share — the minimum proportion of residential use a zone prescribes
- Building requirements — height, boundary distances, plot ratio, design
Why every municipality has its own
The BZO is municipal law. The canton sets the frame through the Planning and Building Act and approves the result, but the content is determined by the municipality — and municipalities decide differently.
That is plain to see around Lake Zurich. On 16 June 2026 Kilchberg adopted a revised building and zoning ordinance prohibiting hotel-like operations in purely residential zones; cantonal approval was still outstanding afterwards. Nothing follows from that for the neighbouring municipalities, and still less from the City of Zurich's rules.
In practice: the question «may I let short-term in Zurich» has no answer. The question «may I let short-term at this address» has one, and it is in the BZO of that municipality.
Where to find your zone
Three routes, from the fastest to the most binding. The canton of Zurich's GIS browser shows the zone for any address, free and without registration. The BZO itself and the zoning plan are on the municipality's website. Binding, in the end, is only the building authority's answer — it costs nothing and relates to your specific property.
Before a purchase, that answer belongs before the signature. A flat that may not be let short-term in its zone has to be valued with a different calculation, not with a discount.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I find out which zone my flat is in?
- Fastest through the canton of Zurich's GIS browser: enter the address, read off the zone, free and without registration. The corresponding building and zoning ordinance is on your municipality's website. Binding is the building authority's answer — also free, and it relates to your specific property rather than to the zone in general.
- Do the City of Zurich rules apply in my municipality too?
- No. The building and zoning ordinance is municipal law and every municipality has its own. The City of Zurich's rules say nothing about Kilchberg, Thalwil or Wettswil. Nor does the trend point the same way everywhere — some municipalities are restricting, others are doing nothing.
- Can the building and zoning ordinance change?
- Yes, and it does so regularly. A revision goes through public consultation, a municipal assembly or ballot, and cantonal approval. Anyone planning a property for the long term should keep an eye on the municipality's ongoing revision procedures — they are public and settled earlier than the new ordinance.
Your question is not answered?
Send it to us — we answer from practice, in writing, within one working day.