Increased Nebenkosten compred to previous years

Accomodation, House and Garden
1

I have spent the last 5 years as a tenant with my family in the same flat. The annual costs (Nebenkosten) have been more or less consistent during the first 4 years (consumption-wise). Half way through 2025, we left the flat and we just now received the bill for the Nebenkosten. The figures didn’t add up, so I did a comparison with previous years and realized that for half a year the billed consumptions (not costs!) were higher than the full year consumptions of each of the previous five years.

If adjusted for monthly consumptions, it appears that there is a 150% increase of the heating kWh, 50% monthly increase (in m3) for hot water and 250% increase (in m3) for cold water.

I sent them an e-mail, expressing my concern, kindly asking them to re-check and they came back to me, saying that they cannot influence the costs. They attributed this to inflated prices (irrelevant as I am talking about kWh and m3, not CHF), home office (also irrelevant because this is since 2021) and the increase in the number of occupants (which is partly true, because we had a baby, but the baby was born in the middle of 2024, so you would see a similar increase there, bu we didn’t)

We are talking about one of these privately held construction companies that take over old buildings, demolish them and make newbuilds. They own them and manage them, so it is not a massive agency, but still somewhat professional.

Now, I don’t want to lose my sleep over that but I also don’t want to be taken for a ride. Is there something that I can do to try to get a better understanding of the situation? I am ok with paying it, if the reported consumptions are right, it is just that I do not believe that in my last year in this flat my consumptions skyrocketed by that much, when they have been pretty stable for the previous 4 years. I was thinking about asking for the respective bills for 2024 and 2025 for comparison. Is this reasonable? Anything else to suggest?

2

Join the Tenant’s association; https://www.mieterverband.ch/

1 Like
3

For those in romandie:

1 Like
4

Yes, I know this, but I would like to avoid making a big fuss out of it. We are talking about 1k more compared to last year, so not a disaster that would require the engagement of Mieterverband or my Legal insurance, but still quite large that is raising suspicions.

I think asking for the respective bills is not a bad thing to do, right?

5

I think that type of advice should come from people experienced in these matters. You don’t need to tell the landlord you are seeking advice but they can help you avoid mistakes.

You are asking us if this is unusual. It looks unusual to me but I don’t know the law. I don’t know what you can ask for or what they are obliged to give you.

The housing association does.

1 Like
6

That’s a fair point. Asking for advice does not mean that I need to inform the landlord. In general, the person we were dealing with (the son of the company owners) was good and reasonable during those 5 years, with no issues at all. However, it seems that during the last year the parents got back in charge and the dynamics have changed. Anyway, let’s just say that this increase seemed unreasonable, especially when it is about the final bill and then we part ways, so I want to ensure that I do not pay for something I did not use.

7

I send every Nebenkostenabrechnung as well as every increase or decrease of my rent to the Mieterverband and ask for their feedback. If they ok it, I do nothing more and silently accept it. If they raise concerns I take my time to dive deeper into the matter. To me, this is an efficient way of handling rental things and well worth the money for the Mieterverband.

1 Like