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Lausanne cracks top ten list of expensive cities

Residents and visitors to Lausanne are often heard complaining of the city’s unaffordable prices — and they wouldn’t be wrong. According to a new survey, the city joins Geneva and Zurich among the ten most expensive in the world.

Published: 28 January 2014 11:12 CET

Lausanne cracks top ten list of expensive cities

Lausanne: almost as expensive as Geneva and Zurich. Photo: Davide Restivo

Lausanne is the sixth most expensive city in the world, according to Expatistan’s annual Cost of Living Index.

Geneva and Zurich, habitually featuring at the top of such lists, ranked third and fourth respectively.

As well as welcoming Lausanne into this year’s top ten, the ranking had some other surprises in store, with London usurping Oslo as the most expensive city in the world.

Also in this year’s top ten were New York City in fifth place, Singapore in seventh place, Paris in eighth place, San Francisco in ninth place and Copenhagen in tenth place.

According to the survey, which analyzed prices of items ranging from fast-food to accommodation prices, eggs in Lausanne cost a whopping 225 percent more than they would in Moscow.

SEE ALSO: Texan expat champions hilly Lausanne

Meanwhile chicken costs 162 percent more than in Tokyo.

The results of this year’s ranking came as no surprise to Lausanne-based French expat David Talerman, who is the author of “Vivre et travailler en Suisse” (Living and Working in Switzerland).

Speaking to the 20 Minutes newspaper, he described the cost of living in Lausanne as a “real hold-up” for the vast majority of expats who are not rolling in money.

He said the heaviest costs were for rent, food and telecommunications.

According to the author, this year’s surprising results can be partly explained by the fact that some towns are not included in the traditional statistics provided by UBS which analyze just 73 towns compared to 4,000 in the Expatistan survey.

See below for the top ten ranking:

1 London (United Kingdom)

2 Oslo (Norway)

3 Geneva (Switzerland)

4 Zurich (Switzerland)

5 New York City (United States)

6 Lausanne (Switzerland)

7 Singapore (Singapore)

8 Paris (France)

9 San Francisco (United States)

10 Copenhagen (Denmark)

For the full Index click here.

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Can I get financial help in Switzerland if I'm struggling to pay the bills?

Say you are a foreign resident in Switzerland and find yourself short of funds, and are unable to pay your monthly bills.

Can you count on your canton’s public coffers to help you out?

Much depends on your status in the country.

If you have a residency permit, have been working in Switzerland and contributing to the social security scheme, then you can receive financial assistance, in form of subsidies, from your local authority.

This is how it works

For instance, if the obligatory health insurance premiums exceed 8 percent of the household income, then you are eligible to receive this help.

However, your canton of residence will look not only at your earnings, but at any other financial assets you hold as well.

So if your income is low but you have plenty of money in the bank in the form of savings or other investments, you will not qualify.

Generally speaking, any resident who is a low earner or has a large number of children — regardless of nationality — could be eligible for subsidised premiums, though criteria, as well as amounts, vary from one canton to another.

READ ALSO : How do I apply for healthcare benefits in Switzerland?

What about housing?

Low-earners (again, regardless of nationality) are entitled to have their rents subsidised, under certain circumstances — the conditions as well as the income threshold is determined by cantonal authorities.

Generally speaking, in order to claim this help, you must prove that you live in the cheapest available housing in your area. (Needless to say, if you reside in a luxury apartment, you can’t ask for rent subsidy.)

If you don’t fulfill this particular condition, you will be told to move to cheaper accommodations before claiming any benefits.

Exceptions to this rule include situations such as a large number of minor children living in the household, which may make relocation — that is, finding a sizeable apartment at a cheaper price — unrealistic.

The amount of rent reduction will be set by the authorities.

Is any other help available?

If you can’t afford anything in Switzerland which, admittedly, is an extreme and rare situation for anyone working full-time and already receiving either health insurance or housing subsidy (or both), then your only other option is applying for welfare.

This, however, should be the absolute last resort if you want to remain in Switzerland and eventually apply for naturalisation, or even have your work permit renewed.

That’s because being on public assistance is grounds for refusal of citizenship — unless all the money is repaid in full in advance of your application.

READ ALSO: Can I still get Swiss citizenship after claiming social benefits?

What about disabilities?

This falls under the general social security scheme, so if you are working in Switzerland, then you are eligible to receive these benefits.

The only exception may be people from outside the EU /EFTA — unless your country of origin has concluded a social security agreement with Switzerland.

This link provides additional information about these countries.

If you qualify for disability (and medical records confirm this), you can apply for these benefits at the social security office of your canton.

There are some other things you should keep in mind as well:

Not all foreigners who have a residency permit can apply for financial assistance.

If you came to Switzerland on a temporary permit (L or B), then you don’t have access to any benefits.

And if you ‘bought’ your Swiss residency, you can’t resort to any public help either.

The condition of your stay in Switzerland is that you should be self-sufficient enough to live here without having to work or resort to welfare benefits.

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