Housing shortage threat to low-income households

AS MINISTER Thembi Simelane tables the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) budget vote today(wed), South Africa’s low-income households contend with an acute shortage of formal housing stock.

- GIVEN MAJOLA

According to data analysed by Lightstone, a provider of analytics and systems on property, there was one property for 4.8 households earning under R13 000 a month.

The ratio improved to 3.3 households for every one formal property if the salary threshold moved to R26 000 a month, said Hayley Ivins-Downes, the managing executive for real estate at Lightstone Property.

For higher income groups, this ratio was closer to 1.2 to 1.

“Either way, more than 80% of South Africa's households earned under R26 000 per month, which meant affordability remained a major obstacle to most households having a property to call their own,’ Ivins-Downes said.

The property market intelligence provider said there were nearly 12 million households earning less than R13 000 a month, with just under 2.5 million properties available if households stuck to the guideline that they spend no more than a third of their income on housing.