Low-income rental housing: Are South African cities different?

Environment and Urbanization

Volumn 9, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 133-144

  Gilbert, Alan ^a   Mabin, Alan ^b   McCarthy, Malcolm ^c   Watson, Vanessa ^d  

^a UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

^c Land and Agricultural Policy Centre   (South Africa)

^d UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN   (South Africa)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0000325786     PISSN: 09562478     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1630/095624797101287480     Document Type: Article

References (53)

1. PSLSD (Project for Statistics on Living Standards and Development) (1994), South Africans Rich and Poor: baseline household statistics, School of Economics, University of Cape Town. The source figures separate urban and metropolitan areas. Here the two have been totalled and called urban.
2. See reference 1. In this paper, "black" refers to the South African population of African descent.
3. Cook, G.P. (1992), "Khayelitsha: new settlement forms in the Cape Peninsula" in Smith, D.M. (editor), The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 125-135; also Crankshaw, O. (1993), "Squatting, apartheid and urbanisation on the southern Witwatersrand", African Affairs Vol. 92, pages 31-51. See also Hendler, P. (1988), Urban Policy and Housing, South African Institute of Race Relations; Hendler, R (1992), "Living in apartheid's shadow: residential planning for Africans in the PWV region 1970-1990", Urban Forum Vol. 3, pages 39-80; Mabin, A. (1991), "The dynamics of urbanization since 1960" in Swilling, M. et al. (editors), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 33-47; and Parnell, S.M. (1992), "State intervention in housing provision in the 1980s" in Smith, D.M. (editor), Tne Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 53-64.
4. Cook, G.P. (1992), "Khayelitsha: new settlement forms in the Cape Peninsula" in Smith, D.M. (editor), The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 125-135; also Crankshaw, O. (1993), "Squatting, apartheid and urbanisation on the southern Witwatersrand", African Affairs Vol. 92, pages 31-51. See also Hendler, P. (1988), Urban Policy and Housing, South African Institute of Race Relations; Hendler, R (1992), "Living in apartheid's shadow: residential planning for Africans in the PWV region 1970-1990", Urban Forum Vol. 3, pages 39-80; Mabin, A. (1991), "The dynamics of urbanization since 1960" in Swilling, M. et al. (editors), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 33-47; and Parnell, S.M. (1992), "State intervention in housing provision in the 1980s" in Smith, D.M. (editor), Tne Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 53-64.
5. Cook, G.P. (1992), "Khayelitsha: new settlement forms in the Cape Peninsula" in Smith, D.M. (editor), The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 125-135; also Crankshaw, O. (1993), "Squatting, apartheid and urbanisation on the southern Witwatersrand", African Affairs Vol. 92, pages 31-51. See also Hendler, P. (1988), Urban Policy and Housing, South African Institute of Race Relations; Hendler, R (1992), "Living in apartheid's shadow: residential planning for Africans in the PWV region 1970-1990", Urban Forum Vol. 3, pages 39-80; Mabin, A. (1991), "The dynamics of urbanization since 1960" in Swilling, M. et al. (editors), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 33-47; and Parnell, S.M. (1992), "State intervention in housing provision in the 1980s" in Smith, D.M. (editor), Tne Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 53-64.
6. Cook, G.P. (1992), "Khayelitsha: new settlement forms in the Cape Peninsula" in Smith, D.M. (editor), The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 125-135; also Crankshaw, O. (1993), "Squatting, apartheid and urbanisation on the southern Witwatersrand", African Affairs Vol. 92, pages 31-51. See also Hendler, P. (1988), Urban Policy and Housing, South African Institute of Race Relations; Hendler, R (1992), "Living in apartheid's shadow: residential planning for Africans in the PWV region 1970-1990", Urban Forum Vol. 3, pages 39-80; Mabin, A. (1991), "The dynamics of urbanization since 1960" in Swilling, M. et al. (editors), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 33-47; and Parnell, S.M. (1992), "State intervention in housing provision in the 1980s" in Smith, D.M. (editor), Tne Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 53-64.
7. Cook, G.P. (1992), "Khayelitsha: new settlement forms in the Cape Peninsula" in Smith, D.M. (editor), The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 125-135; also Crankshaw, O. (1993), "Squatting, apartheid and urbanisation on the southern Witwatersrand", African Affairs Vol. 92, pages 31-51. See also Hendler, P. (1988), Urban Policy and Housing, South African Institute of Race Relations; Hendler, R (1992), "Living in apartheid's shadow: residential planning for Africans in the PWV region 1970-1990", Urban Forum Vol. 3, pages 39-80; Mabin, A. (1991), "The dynamics of urbanization since 1960" in Swilling, M. et al. (editors), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 33-47; and Parnell, S.M. (1992), "State intervention in housing provision in the 1980s" in Smith, D.M. (editor), Tne Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 53-64.
8. Cook, G.P. (1992), "Khayelitsha: new settlement forms in the Cape Peninsula" in Smith, D.M. (editor), The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 125-135; also Crankshaw, O. (1993), "Squatting, apartheid and urbanisation on the southern Witwatersrand", African Affairs Vol. 92, pages 31-51. See also Hendler, P. (1988), Urban Policy and Housing, South African Institute of Race Relations; Hendler, R (1992), "Living in apartheid's shadow: residential planning for Africans in the PWV region 1970-1990", Urban Forum Vol. 3, pages 39-80; Mabin, A. (1991), "The dynamics of urbanization since 1960" in Swilling, M. et al. (editors), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 33-47; and Parnell, S.M. (1992), "State intervention in housing provision in the 1980s" in Smith, D.M. (editor), Tne Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa, Routledge, London, pages 53-64.
9. Planact (1989), The Soweto Rent Boycott, Planact, Johannesburg; also Swilling, M., W. Cobbett and R. Hunter (1991), "Finance, electricity costs, and the rent boycott" in Swilling, M., R. Humphries and K. Shubane (editors) (1991), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 174-196.
10. Planact (1989), The Soweto Rent Boycott, Planact, Johannesburg; also Swilling, M., W. Cobbett and R. Hunter (1991), "Finance, electricity costs, and the rent boycott" in Swilling, M., R. Humphries and K. Shubane (editors) (1991), Apartheid City in Transition, Oxford University Press, pages 174-196.
11. Palmer Development Group (1993), Backyard Living in Inner City Townships: A Survey of Onsite Access to Water and Waste Services, draft report to the Water Research Commission, Cape Town cited in Watson, V. (1994), "Housing policy, sub-letting and the urban poor; evidence from Cape Town", Urban Forum 5, pages 27-45.
12. Palmer Development Group (1993), Backyard Living in Inner City Townships: A Survey of Onsite Access to Water and Waste Services, draft report to the Water Research Commission, Cape Town cited in Watson, V. (1994), "Housing policy, sub-letting and the urban poor; evidence from Cape Town", Urban Forum 5, pages 27-45.
13. Republic of South Africa (1994), The Housing Accord: Housing the Nation. Botshabelo; and Republic of South Africa Department of Housing (1995), Housing the Nation, Pretoria.
14. Republic of South Africa (1994), The Housing Accord: Housing the Nation. Botshabelo; and Republic of South Africa Department of Housing (1995), Housing the Nation, Pretoria.
15. Lemer, A.C. (1987), The Role of Rental Housing in Developing Countries: A Need for Balance, World Bank Report UDD-104; also Rakodi, C. (1995), "Rental housing in the cities of developing countries", Urban Studies 32, Pages 791-811; also UNCHS (1989), Strategies for Low-income Shelter and Services Development: The Rental Housing Option, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1990), Rental Housing: Proceedings of The Experts Group Meeting, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1993), Support Measures to Promote Low-income Rental Housing, Nairobi; and Watson (1994), see reference 5.
16. Lemer, A.C. (1987), The Role of Rental Housing in Developing Countries: A Need for Balance, World Bank Report UDD-104; also Rakodi, C. (1995), "Rental housing in the cities of developing countries", Urban Studies 32, Pages 791-811; also UNCHS (1989), Strategies for Low-income Shelter and Services Development: The Rental Housing Option, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1990), Rental Housing: Proceedings of The Experts Group Meeting, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1993), Support Measures to Promote Low-income Rental Housing, Nairobi; and Watson (1994), see reference 5.
17. Lemer, A.C. (1987), The Role of Rental Housing in Developing Countries: A Need for Balance, World Bank Report UDD-104; also Rakodi, C. (1995), "Rental housing in the cities of developing countries", Urban Studies 32, Pages 791-811; also UNCHS (1989), Strategies for Low-income Shelter and Services Development: The Rental Housing Option, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1990), Rental Housing: Proceedings of The Experts Group Meeting, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1993), Support Measures to Promote Low-income Rental Housing, Nairobi; and Watson (1994), see reference 5.
18. Lemer, A.C. (1987), The Role of Rental Housing in Developing Countries: A Need for Balance, World Bank Report UDD-104; also Rakodi, C. (1995), "Rental housing in the cities of developing countries", Urban Studies 32, Pages 791-811; also UNCHS (1989), Strategies for Low-income Shelter and Services Development: The Rental Housing Option, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1990), Rental Housing: Proceedings of The Experts Group Meeting, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1993), Support Measures to Promote Low-income Rental Housing, Nairobi; and Watson (1994), see reference 5.
19. Lemer, A.C. (1987), The Role of Rental Housing in Developing Countries: A Need for Balance, World Bank Report UDD-104; also Rakodi, C. (1995), "Rental housing in the cities of developing countries", Urban Studies 32, Pages 791-811; also UNCHS (1989), Strategies for Low-income Shelter and Services Development: The Rental Housing Option, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1990), Rental Housing: Proceedings of The Experts Group Meeting, Nairobi; also UNCHS (1993), Support Measures to Promote Low-income Rental Housing, Nairobi; and Watson (1994), see reference 5.
20. The evidence from which the following generalizations are made is mainly derived from the sources listed in reference 6. No doubt rental conditions in some Third World cities do not fit the generalizations quite as well. Nonetheless, the amount of consensus in the findings from the 19 cities is really very impressive.
21. Sharers are defined as households sharing a plot with the owners but not forming part of the owners' household and who are not making more than an occasional contribution to the costs. Sometimes the term is used to describe extended households, say, where a newly married young couple lives in the same home as one set of parents. Chilean students of the allegado problem in Santiago tend to define these two different kinds of sharing as external and internal sharing.
22. There are also some Third World cities where rich households rent in preference to owning, for example, Cairo and many Indian and Nigerian cities particularly where employers provide housing.
23. However, there are increasing variations on that pattern. In several Mexican cities, for example, self-help settlements contain a much higher incidence of migrant owner-occupiers and the central city a much higher proportion of native-born tenants. Finally, female headed households are more likely to be tenants or sharers than owners because women are often excluded from official housing programmes offering owner-occupation, because they are usually poorer and because they are normally less able to engage in self-help construction.
24. Among the relatively few exceptions are Nairobi, parts of Bangkok and North Africa, and most Nigerian cities.
25. Englander, D. (1983), Landlord and Tenant in Urban Britain, 1834-1918, Clarendon Press; also Kemp, P. (1982), "Housing landlordism in late nineteenth century Britain", Environment and Planning 14, pages 1437-47.
26. Englander, D. (1983), Landlord and Tenant in Urban Britain, 1834-1918, Clarendon Press; also Kemp, P. (1982), "Housing landlordism in late nineteenth century Britain", Environment and Planning 14, pages 1437-47.
27. Crankshaw, O. and C. White (1995), "Racial desegregation and inner-city decay in Johannesburg", International Journal for Urban and Regional Research 19, pages 622-638; also Morris, A. (1994), "The desegregation of Hillbrow, Johannesburg, 1978-82", Urban Studies 31, pages 821-834.
28. Crankshaw, O. and C. White (1995), "Racial desegregation and inner-city decay in Johannesburg", International Journal for Urban and Regional Research 19, pages 622-638; also Morris, A. (1994), "The desegregation of Hillbrow, Johannesburg, 1978-82", Urban Studies 31, pages 821-834.
29. Mazur, R.E. and V.N. Qangule (1995), Household Dynamics and Mobility of Africans in Cape Town: Appropriate Housing Responses, report produced for Western Cape Community Based Housing Trust; also Watson (1974), see reference 5.
30. In the past, many people tried to evade the census enumerators because they were living in the city illegally and feared they might be deported under the influx controls. More recently, the fear has been that census enumeration would lead to the authorities demanding rent or service charges.
31. See reference 1. The figures published do not distinguish between families sharing, renting or being granted free shelter.
32. Those who moved into shack settlements on nearby land were subject to official harassment and the settlements were often eradicated.
33. See reference 1.
34. The survey was not statistically representative of the two settlements both of which are very large; Guguletu is estimated to have 148,000 inhabitants and Wattville some 40,000. This first stage of the research was intended to be interpretative rather than statistically representative. However, within the small sample, households were selected at random.
35. Most are terraced houses on plots of 224 square metres but there are some semi-detached homes on plots of 336 square metres and a few detached homes on plots of 384 square metres.
36. Backyard shacks were prohibited in Wattville and so tenants and sharers mainly occupied permanent brick-built structures.
37. In practice, at the time of the interviews, none were actually paying the rent.
38. The smaller size of the landlord households in Tamboville is due to the recent establishment of the settlement and the relative youth of the inhabitants.
39. We use the word landlord to describe the party letting space to tenants. The term landlord includes both men and women. We do not call the landlords "owners" because virtually all of them are themselves tenants or are illegal occupiers of the land. In Guguletu, where the average age of the "landlords" is 55 years, most are women because their husbands have either died or left home.
40. It should be pointed out that the estimates of income are weakened by the inconsistent reporting of children's incomes and, in extended households, those of relatives. This was a particular problem in Guguletu.
41. In Tamboville, there is still no electricity system although a few homes have their own generators. Clearly, many of the interviewed landlords had fewer assets compared with those in other Third World cities insofar as they do not own the property.
42. Of course, we were working in settlements where backyard shacks dominated. We are aware that some tenants in other settlements will find evidence of tenants occupying rooms in the main house or even the whole house; there are certainly reports of this occurring in some coloured areas in Cape Town. We are certain, however, that the renting of backyard shacks and outbuildings is the dominant form of rental in both the older townships and the new black settlements in most parts of urban South Africa.
43. Gilbert, A. (1993), In Search of a Home, UCL Press, London; also Mercado, O. (1992), "La situacion habitacional: Habitabilidad y allegamiento" in MIDEPLAN (editor), Población, Educación, Vivienda, Salud, Empleo y Pobreza, CASEN, Santiago, pages 105-160; and Necochea, A. (1987), "El allegamiento de los sin tierra, estrategia de supervivencia en vivienda", Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Urbanos-Regionales (EURE) Vols. 13-14, pages 85-100.
44. Gilbert, A. (1993), In Search of a Home, UCL Press, London; also Mercado, O. (1992), "La situacion habitacional: Habitabilidad y allegamiento" in MIDEPLAN (editor), Población, Educación, Vivienda, Salud, Empleo y Pobreza, CASEN, Santiago, pages 105-160; and Necochea, A. (1987), "El allegamiento de los sin tierra, estrategia de supervivencia en vivienda", Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Urbanos-Regionales (EURE) Vols. 13-14, pages 85-100.
45. Gilbert, A. (1993), In Search of a Home, UCL Press, London; also Mercado, O. (1992), "La situacion habitacional: Habitabilidad y allegamiento" in MIDEPLAN (editor), Población, Educación, Vivienda, Salud, Empleo y Pobreza, CASEN, Santiago, pages 105-160; and Necochea, A. (1987), "El allegamiento de los sin tierra, estrategia de supervivencia en vivienda", Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Urbanos-Regionales (EURE) Vols. 13-14, pages 85-100.
46. At the time of the surveys the rand was worth around US$3.70.
47. This point is commented on by Mazur and Qangule (1995), see reference 15, on the basis of their survey of Cape Town and by Tomlinson, M. et al. (1995), More Than Mealies and Marigolds: From Homeseekers to Citizens in Ivory Park, Center for Policy Studies, on the basis of research in Johannesburg.
48. Gilbert, A.G. and A. Varley (1991), Landlord and Tenant; Housing the Poor in Urban Mexico, Routledge, London.
49. See reference 15, page 51.
50. In any event there was some opposition to the idea of self-help construction on the part of the provincial authorities during the first year of the housing subsidy scheme. Certain provincial governments were opposed to incremental housing projects and wanted to build formal homes. Such an attitude was certainly not going to encourage self-help consolidation. For an account of this opposition see Tomlinson, M. (1995), From Principle to Practice: Implementers' Views on the New Housing Subsidy Scheme, Centre for Policy Studies, Social Policy Series, Research Report 44.
51. In our survey, very few households understood the government's housing subsidy scheme or felt that it was relevantto them.
52. For a discussion of this issue see Parnell, S. (1991), "Race, class, gender and homeownership subsidies in contemporary South Africa", Urban Forum 2, pages 21-39.
53. Further research is being conducted in two additional settlements.