Applying for social housing

Who is this procedure for?

This procedure is intended for people satisfying the eligibility criteria for social housing.

What are the rental conditions for social housing and the main criteria adopted by the City of Geneva to allocate social housing?

To be eligible for social housing, or to continue living in it, all the following conditions must be satisfied:

• be a resident of Geneva for at least 2 years during the five years preceding registration;
• be a resident of Geneva for tax purposes, i.e. pay taxes in the Canton of Geneva;
• not benefit from tax exemptions on more than half of the household income;
• if you, or the people occupying the accommodation with you, are a home owner in the Canton of Geneva or the surrounding region, you cannot benefit from social housing;
• the housing requested must be used by the tenant and all occupants as their main residence.

The conditions for allocating social housing enable the City of Geneva to achieve an important objective: to offer appropriate housing to people living in a difficult economic or family situation.

Priority is, in particular, given to:

• people who do not have any housing;
• tenants who need to be relocated due to demolition, significant transformation of the building in which they live or lease cancellation;
• people living in accommodation which is clearly unsuitable to their personal economic or family situation;
• people currently living in sub-standard accommodation;
• people who need different accommodation for medical or health reasons.

The rent associated with social housing generally corresponds to a percentage of the household income (income ratio).

Which documents should be enclosed?

Each member of the household must provide 3 types of document:

• proof of identity;
• tax documents;
• proof of income.

The form provides you with all the information relating to the photocopies of the documents to be enclosed.

How to complete this procedure?

You can download:

Print it out, complete it in full and return it to the municipal property management office (contact details below).

You can also obtain the form from our reception desk from Monday to Friday 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. During the months of July and August, the reception desk is open Monday to Friday from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. only.

How will your application be processed?

Following registration, the application will be assigned an applicant number, which will be sent to you at a later date. The housing application processing procedure, available for download on this website, describes the processing procedure. The application is valid for one year, renewable exclusively in writing one month before expiry, by sending the duly completed