Renting shacks: Landlords and tenants in the informal housing sector in Johannesburg South Africa

Abstract

Renting is a common form of tenure in many developing countries in the global south. This is due to a housing shortage in these countries and has led to a situation where the vast majority of individuals in major cities find accommodation in the rental market. This situation can be put down to the difficulty to entering the market as a homeowner. While this condition is found in much of the formal housing market in the global south, little has been explored in the informal housing market. This state of affairs has pushed many residence in informal settlements into the rental market. This paper examines the rental market in informal settlements in Johannesburg, South Africa by conducting a qualitative investigation into the experiences of landlords (n = 11) and tenants (n = 15) in three informal settlements in Johannesburg. Overall, there is an asymmetric relationship between the two actors within this market, with the perception that landlords, who view their role as noble provider, impose arbitrary rental terms on tenants in an illegal tenancy market.

Keywords

• Housing; Informal Sector; Rental; Johannesburg; Informal