Property demand outstrips supply
Increased demand for flats, houseshares, especially where student accommodation is in short supply.
ESTATE agents, especially those working in the high density urbanised areas, find they are getting an increasing number of requests from home-owners to find tenants for a portion of their homes to supplement or earn extra income, either in a flat in the garden or just one or two of the bedrooms in the home.
In some cases, they even try to rent out inadequate living spaces like semi-converted garages and storerooms under stairwells which were not officially designed for residential occupation and are definitely contravening the law.
This according to Tony Clarke of the Rawson Property Group, who said this reflects the tough economic conditions that prevail today and the need many people have to supplement their incomes.
However, he said it also reflects the increased demand for this type of accommodation, especially in the academic belts where student accommodation is in short supply.
‘Many landlords have cottoned on to this desperate need and are willing to squeeze and sometimes double the number of people legally permitted to live on the property simply to make as much money as possible.
‘Sometimes, we are told, rentals as high as R4 500 per month for a single bed are charged, and many students are forced to pay these exorbitant prices because they simply have no other option,’ said Clarke.
‘We have seen cases where tenants have sub-let rooms in their apartments without their landlord’s permission, allowing nine or 10 people to live in three-bedroom apartments.
‘We have even come across cases where tenants rent out beds for a night or on an hourly basis to people in distressed conditions, for instance those from rural areas or neighbouring countries who are new to the city and looking for work.’
Landlords, he said, need to be especially aware of this situation and prevent it.
‘Steps have been taken to make affordable accommodation in formerly low income areas like Woodstock and Salt River in Cape Town, Berea in Durban and Bez Valley in Johannesburg, but in most cases, the costs are still far too high and the supply continues to fall well below demand,’ he said.
‘One of the challenges facing the Human Settlements Ministry is to provide inexpensive accommodation closer to work areas’
‘One of the problems South Africa has inherited from the past has been that our least affluent areas are generally sited on the outskirts of the urban fringe, making it necessary for those who live there, to pay high travel costs.’
‘This situation has, in fact, been perpetuated by many of the RDP housing schemes, which were designed specifically to help the poor, but were still located far away from city centres,’ he said.
