Geneva

[gigahoe]

Hi all,
Has anyone here taken a contract in Geneva? I know all the scare stories about how expensive and boring it can be but my concern is about getting an apartment.

From my research it sounds like the market there is pretty nuts in terms of availability and you have 20 odd people applying for each available flat, so you have to submit a dossier for them to judge your suitability. As a youngish single guy I can imagine not being a particularly desirable candidate if the stereotype of Swiss people being very conservative is true as they will probably assume that I'll be making loads of noise or not cleaning the place properly.

Does anyone have experience of this process and was it as bad as it sounds?

[JRCT]

I've not worked there myself, but my wife's cousin does. He lives over the border in France and commutes in.

[Magpie252]

Try this website:

homegate.ch | Immobilien Markt Schweiz

Currently shows 65 furnished apartments for rent, I've not rented in Geneva, but I've not had any issues renting elsewhere in Switzerland

[BlasterBates]

If you continue to travel back to the UK, stay in France and work in Switzerland you have to deal with the three tax authorities. That would be unavoidable. Not that you would pay tax in all three but you would have to deal with a lot of paperwork.

That will be complicated and bureacratic to say the least.

The simplest way if possible is to deregister from the UK, and become Swiss resident for the year you are working there which is possible if you are there more than 6 months and satisfy Swiss residency requirements.

[gigahoe]

If you continue to travel back to the UK, stay in France and work in Switzerland you have to deal with the three tax authorities. That would be unavoidable. Not that you would pay tax in all three but you would have to deal with a lot of paperwork.

That will be complicated and bureacratic to say the least.

The simplest way if possible is to deregister from the UK, and become Swiss resident for the year you are working there which is possible if you are there more than 6 months and satisfy Swiss residency requirements.

Yeah, that would be my plan, I have no interest in flying back and forth every weekend nor dealing with all that crazy tax fudging. I also wouldn't want to live across the border as I'd rather live in the city than in a commuter town, plus it looks like the buses from Geneva to those towns stop before 9pm!

I'm currently in the Netherlands so I'm comfortable living out of the UK, but was a bit scared off by what seem like the facist housing rules etc.