South Africans prefer renting over buying property – survey

Africa Melane speaks to Waldo Marcus, Industry Principal at TPN Credit Bureau. 

Marcus shares the findings from the Tenant Survey Report, which gathered data from over 170 000 South African tenants, revealing these main insights:

• South Africans prefer to rent rather than invest in property because 'they cannot afford to buy'.
• 10% of respondents can't afford to buy property due to poor credit records with factors like high interest rates and limited employment opportunities hindering homeownership.
• 37.8% of respondents want a fixed-term longer lease agreement with lower escalations and no deposit. 
• 26.7% of people surveyed indicated they would pay higher rentals for a 'rent-to-own' option. 

"People are willing to pay a higher premium for rentals they can later buy to prove that they are capable to have a bond with banks. The rent-to-own option means you enter into a lease agreement that has a structure which might say that, after 10 years of renting, a portion of that money is allocated to purchasing the home you are renting, which might equate to a decent deposit and you also now have a good credit record based on monthly payments you've made."

- Waldo Marcus, TPN Credit Bureau

Find the full report here.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.