Cheapest areas of Zurich to rent a room

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
Hi everyone, I'll probably move in Zurich in September and I'd like to know which are the cheapest areas to rent a room! Thank you!

2
cheapest areas - no other questions asked - are outside Zurich city, just across the border. Look around in places like Schlieren / Affoltern a. A. / the Engstringens / Urdorf / Glattbrugg / Kloten / etc.

These are outside the purview of Zurich's Kreisbüro's so the registration is handled by the local "Stadtbüro"s or similar; no other difference. Of course, shops shut at six, there is no nightlife, trams may or may not run to your door, and so on and so forth... but usually Zürich is under 20 minutes away.

Inside the city, the cheapest WOKO was in Altstetten (the one south of the railway line) but you need to check if it is still running. I know some folks in Schwamedingen who have found good deals on apartments but when you otherwise hear of cheap rooms make sure to ask for numbers to be sure it fits your definition of cheap. And any one "Studentenhaus" is about as good as another -- try the one on Rigiblick and one somewhere south of Zurich Zoo (across the hill).

3
hi simone90, i understand from your other post that you are student. if so, i would recommend u to stay within zurich city because it is much better for your social life. check out student apartment page of unizh and eth http://www.wohnen.ethz.ch/index_EN

4
While I completely agree with you, what's interesting is that the most (MOST) social person (student) I know actually lives in Aarau.

And more interestingly (Shhh!) Schlieren requires only four years of residence (at the Gemeinde level -- federal requirements provided) to accept an application for naturalization, whereas Stadt Zuri needs six unbroken years. Glattbrugg is also more convenient I hear

5
There is no cheap accommodation in Zurich!

I would say that a room in a shared flat costs between 800 CHF and 1500 CHF per month...

6
OK! and so which areas are closer to 800 CHF?

7
I've found this http://www.woko.ch/en/ and it seems really cheap! they say their rooms cost 500 CHF/month on average! Do you think it's easy to get a room from them?

8
The areas on the periphery of the city. Which are not bad at all, considering the city's diameter. Nothing is more than 30 minutes away from ETH.

WOKO should really be your first option, even if you can get it for a few months. I lived in a beautiful WOKO room for 340/mo. near Altstetten, there are still many houses below the 500 CHF mark. Of course, you may need to meet up with the housemates where a room is available and convince them to pick you, unless you find a single room...

9
Were you living in a double or in a single room for 340/mo? I'd really prefer a single one!

10
Single and I repeat beautiful but that house is now closed for renovation I think. Anyway the rates have increased there but there are other WOKO houses around that price.

BTW they assigned that room to me much before I arrived in Switzerland, try talking to the ETH housing office (not the ETH housing website, the office) to see if you can get something before you arrive. They usually have one house reserved for new incoming students (allocations are handled by the ETH office but the house belongs to WOKO).

11
I know but the deadline for applying through ETH was the 30th of June and you needed to have completely accepted the offer; at the moment I've only sent an incomplete registration. Anyway I think I could still apply directly to WOKO, i hope!

12
It is quite difficult to find a decent room under 1000 CHF, maybe you can get one in Altstetten or Oerlikon.

13
A non-decent one it's still ok!

14
have you seen this? Lots of offers:

http://www.wgzimmer.ch/wgzimmer/sear...ich-stadt.html

Soem of them can be let to students only though.

15
Check also the area around Langstrasse, it is very central but you can still find rooms under 1000 CHF.

16
There are already a few posts with recommending web addresses, like the wgzimmer one or the uni eth one.

I guess before you have been here, know your way around, know which areas you like and don't it is difficult to give recommendations.

but if you can't find anything on those sites listed, why not rent a furnished place from someone who is currently out of the city (check ronorp.net or homegate.ch) for a short period of time and then find YOUR place once you are already here?

17
Thank you!

No actually I've never been in Zurich and I know nothing about the city!

18
This is our plan - a furnished flat for a few months while we look for something more permanent. I've never been to Zurich before either, so I figure this allows me a buffer in which time I can get the lay of the land, so to speak. I'll spend time wandering around and familiarizing myself with the neighbourhoods, etc. (and also time to put in the rental applications...urgh! Not looking forward to that!).

The other big perk (or so I anticipate) is that 3+ months after arriving, we'll have probably saved up some money with which to buy furniture, etc. In the first 3 months when money is tight (thanks to plane tickets, moving costs, rental deposits and the like), we will be living in a place that already has the basics for living (furniture, appliances, cookware, etc.).

19
To reduce commuting costs, I would try to find the accommodation within the 110 ZVV zone, see the map below:

http://www.zvv.ch/de/linien-und-zone...zonenplan.html

Within the 110 zone I woud say that the cheapest areas are: Altstetten, Oerlikon, Seebach, and Affoltern, where you should be able to find a room in a shared flat for 800-1000 CHF/month.

20
Im also an incoming student of ETH Zurich starting from September. I have been searching in most above recommended sites to find a room in shared house ( up to 550CHF/month) in past one month but it seems almost impossible to find one before arriving to Zurich...i try to learn about different areas but still not decided..

So I probably fly there two weeks before semester starts and search onsite.( I have to be in Japan till end of August)

1. Has anybody stayed in ETH air shelter provided by ETH for new arrivals who cant find a room? Is it a decent place to stay for few days until i find a room? Any experience sharing is appreciated!

2. What would be recommended reasonable hostels, weekly apartments to stay first few days?

3. If I want to search onsite in a short period of time, where would be the first places I should look in? Just search on the same online sites and set meetings with ad owners?