May I let my owner-occupied flat on Airbnb?

In principle yes — letting falls under your exclusive right. The limit lies with the communal parts: if guests use the stairwell, lift or communal facilities noticeably differently from permanent residents, the community may regulate the type of use. What governs is first the community rules, then a resolution of the general meeting.

What is the value quota and what does it count for?

The value quota is your share of the property, in thousandths of the whole. It determines your share of communal costs and your weight in votes. For the more important resolutions, heads and value quotas both count — which is why a few large quotas can decide the outcome.

Where does it say what is allowed in my building?

In the deed of constitution and in the community rules, both available from the administrator and noted in the land register. Add the minutes of the last three to five general meetings: a planned restriction appears there before it reaches the rules. Before a purchase, the minutes matter more than the rules.

Condominium ownership and short-term letting: what is yours and what the community decides

The flat is yours, the stairwell belongs to everyone. That division decides whether you may let short-term — and who gets to rule on it.

What is Swiss condominium ownership?

Under article 712a of the Swiss Civil Code, condominium ownership is a share of co-ownership in a property combined with the exclusive right to use and fit out specific rooms. The share is expressed as a value quota in thousandths. Stairwell, roof, façade and grounds remain communal; how they are used is governed by the community through its rules and its resolutions.

Exclusive right and communal parts

Condominium ownership is not ownership of a flat, even though it feels like it. In law you own a fraction of the entire property — the value quota — plus the exclusive right to use certain rooms alone. This construction explains almost every dispute that arises in a community.

What falls under your exclusive right is yours to decide: flooring, kitchen, furnishing, interior paint. What is communal is decided by the community — and that covers more than most owners assume.

Exclusive right: the rooms of your flat, their interior fit-out and everything that can be changed without touching the structure
Necessarily communal: ground, foundations, load-bearing elements, roof, façade and everything that gives the building its form
Communal as a rule: stairwell, lift, laundry room, bicycle store, outdoor areas
Contested and to be settled in the rules: balcony, terrace and roof terrace — usually exclusive as to use, communal as to substance

Why short-term letting turns on this

You may let your flat — that is your exclusive right, and nobody can take it from you. But your guests use the stairwell, the lift, the laundry room and the grounds, and those are communal. That is exactly where the community's authority begins.

So the decisive question is not whether you may let, but how far the communal parts are used differently as a result. A building without communal facilities tolerates more than one with a roof terrace, sauna and pool — in 2019 the Federal Supreme Court upheld a prohibition in such a case.

Two things come before any further thought: the community rules and the minutes of the last few general meetings. The rules say what applies today; the minutes say what may apply soon.

Frequently asked questions

May I let my owner-occupied flat on Airbnb?: In principle yes — letting falls under your exclusive right. The limit lies with the communal parts: if guests use the stairwell, lift or communal facilities noticeably differently from permanent residents, the community may regulate the type of use. What governs is first the community rules, then a resolution of the general meeting.
What is the value quota and what does it count for?: The value quota is your share of the property, in thousandths of the whole. It determines your share of communal costs and your weight in votes. For the more important resolutions, heads and value quotas both count — which is why a few large quotas can decide the outcome.
Where does it say what is allowed in my building?: In the deed of constitution and in the community rules, both available from the administrator and noted in the land register. Add the minutes of the last three to five general meetings: a planned restriction appears there before it reaches the rules. Before a purchase, the minutes matter more than the rules.

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