Despite the financial challenging times the country faces, the number of tenants with good credit scores continues to grow.
According to TPN, one of SAs well-known credit bureaus, 83 of tenants are in good standing as of the first quarter of this year, their latest residential rental monitor report has shown. Waldo Marcus, marketing director at TPN said this is an improvement compared to the last quarter of 2024.
These figures are remarkable considering that over 8-million South Africans are unemployed, yet tenants are demonstrating improved payment behaviour. This is a clear sign that consumers have an increased commitment to maintaining a good payment record while ensuring housing stability, he said.
In 2013, over 60 of tenants rented within the R3,000 to R7,000 band. That number has dropped to 44.5 as escalating rental prices nudge more tenants into higher-value brackets. The R7,000 to R12,000 sector now represents over 30 of tenants, triple what it was a decade ago, while luxury rentals above R25,000 have also tripled and now account for 1.7 of the market, said Marcus.
This shift illustrates stronger national rental growth, which stood at 4.49 in Q1 2025. The higher-rental value bands are driving this figure, with escalations of between 5.12 to 5.68 in the R7,000 and above categories. In contrast, escalations in lower-value segments have been subdued, reflecting the pressure of vacancies and affordability constraints, he said.