When is it alright to make improvements in a rented property as a tenant?

You wish to make improvements or alterations to a rented property? Except for minor changes, called the « maintenance », you need to obtain permission from your landlord.

 In most cases, tenants’ property maintenance obligations are clearly defined in the rental agreement. Your landlord will need to express his approval for major changes. The article 260a of the Swiss Code of Obligation clearly provides that « the tenant may renovate or modify the object only with the written consent of the landlord». In other words, your liberty to introduce changes is very limited.

Normal maintenance and other changes 

The legal definition of the minor repairs is far from being clear. You need therefore to know how to distinguish the ongoing repairs from major works that will require Landlord’s permission. This will help you avoid issues when leaving the apartment after the end of the rental agreement. As a tenant you may on the other hand make minor repairs as far as they do not require any professional intervention. It is impossible to draw a simple list of what « minor changes » mean in practice. Any project needs to be closely analysed before carrying out.

You are free to furnish your apartment as you wish. However, things get complicated, when it comes to decoration or improving the comfort of living and the range of changes that you may actually introduce is rather limited. You may for example hang the frames or shelves but remember that the landlord may request you to take them off and fill up the holes when the rental agreement expires and you will need to hand the apartment over back to the owner. For example, if you decide to paint the yellow room to pink, he may ask, unless it was explicitly agreed upon, to bring the room back to its original color. The basic rule is as follows: the tenant should leave the premises in the same state as when he/she moved in.

If you are planning a renovation in order to transform the apartment to your taste, the owner’s permission is indispensable, and he may refuse your request. You request as well accept it, in particular if he/she considers the changes as increasing the attractiveness of the property. In any case, a written permission is necessary unless you want to risk being obliged to restore the apartment to its initial state upon leaving. Only a written consent may spare you the issues afterwards. You better get it if you don’t want to repaint the pink room to a yellow one!

What kind of alterations always require a written consent?

Certain alternations and renovations are often requested by tenants, in particular when it comes to old buildings that have not been done up. In fact, the lacking number of apartments, especially in big cities, may make the tenant to accept a property as it is and then carry out the works to adapt it to suit his/her needs. Here are the most common examples when you will be required to request the owner’s permission:

– painting the walls;

– adapting the bathroom or the kitchen;

– floor renovation.

Needless to say, that also in case of any extensive restoration like demolishing the walls, changing the doors or insulating the apartment are major changes. In such a case you will evidently need to discuss the project with the owner and obtain his permission.

Who pays for the works?

When minor repairs are necessary, it is the tenant who needs to carry them out and pay for them, unless the landlord freely accepts to share costs. To sum up, in order to change the taps or touch up the painting, it is obligatory to ask the owner’s authorization. And do not forget to request permission in writing defining clearly the scope of the approved improvements. The same goes for the problem « who pays ».

* For more information on rights and obligations of tenants, see the website of ASLOCA, the Swiss association of tenants.

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