How to handle a defaulting tenant
ReMax - South Africa
"Some landlords may find themselves in the situation where their tenant is no longer able to pay their monthly rent; however landlords cannot simply evict the tenant as they are protected by the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, No. 19 of 1998, also known as the PIE Act,” says Adrian Goslett of RE/MAX.
"Essentially the act applies to the occupation of premises which constitute a dwelling, which in the case of a landlord and tenant relationship would be the residential property in an urban area. The reason that the act was introduced was to ensure that tenants were protected from being unlawfully evicted from the property. However, it is important to note that while the act aims to prevent wrongful eviction, it does not mean that the tenant cannot be evicted, merely that the correct procedure needs to be adhered to during the process."
Goslett says that it is imperative that any homeowner or investors who wishes to let out a property familiarise themselves with the PIE Act, along with the numerous procedures it advocates for the lawful dealing of a defaulting tenant. "While the act was created with the tenant's protection in mind, it is not prejudice against landlords, but ensures that the eviction process is followed in the correct manner according to legislation and that tenants are treated with respect," he explains.
ReMax
Property Barometer
FNB - South Africa
The Average House Price Indices that we regularly publish are often open to “misinterpretation”.
The fact that average house price indices rise in nominal terms for most of the time can conceivably lead certain viewers of these indices to mistakenly believe that all property values always rise. That is not entirely true. At times, an entire average house price index can decline, for example back around the time of the 2008/9 recession. But even when our average national house price index is on the rise, a certain portion of sellers are having to settle for a price lower than the price for which they bought the property. We monitor the extent of price decline and its fluctuations over time.
The good news for current home owners is that at the present time the problem of price decline is not that widespread by historic standards.
But it is nevertheless important for aspirant home buyers to understand that there exists the risk, albeit not currently a large one, that they may not necessarily achieve a selling price higher than their purchase price at some future stage. Such risks are increased when they financially “over-commit” on their home purchase, because that is when the risk increases of households not being able to afford full maintenance of the home, which can negatively impact on its value.
This all makes it crucial that buyers get the buying price right by doing good research regarding prices in an area, and that they have a good understanding of the many home running-related costs so as not to financially over-commit.
FNB Property Barometer
Residential building statistics
Absa - South Africa
First half of 2016 saw the planning phase of new housing contracting, with the construction phase showing single-digit growth Building activity in the South African market for new housing showed some divergent trends in the first half of 2016. In the planning phase the volume of building plans approved contracted on a year-on-year basis up to June, with the number of new housing units completed recording some single-digit growth over the same period. With regard to both the planning and construction phases of new housing, some divergent year-on-year growth occurred at a segment level in the first six months of year. These trends are based on data published by Statistics South Africa in respect of building activity related to private sector-financed housing (see explanatory notes).
The volume of new housing units for which building plans were approved dropped by 2,5% year-on-year (y/y), or 730 units, to 28 466 units in the first half of the year. This decline was mainly driven by the two segments of houses, which showed a combined contraction of 7% y/y, or 1 290 units, to 17 125 units over the 6-month period. The segment of flats and townhouses, however, recorded growth of 5,2% y/y over the same period.
Building stats Jun 2016
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