UPPER RANGE RENTAL MARKET BEING AFFECTED BY DROUGHT IN THE CAPE

Certain areas of Cape Town are known for their higher end properties to rent, particularly to corporate tenants and the upper professional brackets, but now, says Cathy Cockcroft, landlords in this particular segment of the market might find they need to take additional measures to ensure comfortable and streamlined stays for their tenants.

“Cape Town has long been hailed as one of the most popular destinations in the world and although the prospect of the imminent arrival of day zero has been averted in the Western Cape, landlords as well as the general public need to change our thinking on water usage going forward as water shortages are likely to occur more frequently worldwide due to factors such as global warming and changing climate conditions,” says Cockcroft.

Cockcroft deals with many rentals in the R30 000 upwards range, particularly in the City Bowl to Atlantic Seaboard areas, which does attract a slightly more discerning or particular tenant. Many of the tenants she deals with are upper management and corporates, from overseas as well as various parts of South Africa. She says that the market has shifted slightly over the past few months, to one where it is slightly more difficult to place the higher paying tenant due to risk of discomfort or inconvenience caused by the drought. 

Landlords in the upper bracket rental homes often have taken care to ensure that the properties they rent out have superior finishes, good security, or are slightly above average, but they might now have to consider installing well points or boreholes, rain water tanks and grey water systems, so that tenants are not at risk of running out of water or have the inconvenience of having to physically carry water from area to area within the home.

Tenants in the R30 000 and upwards price range do not want the inconvenience of having to manually pump water, nor do they want to go without certain “normal” day to day conveniences, so they would rather reconsider their stay while Cape Town is in this situation, she said.

While rain water and borehole water might not be seen as suitable for drinking, this source, once filtered, can be used for showers, toilets, running washing machines or dishwashers, and a proper filtration and tank system could almost take a home “off the grid” with regards to municipal water demand.

The average household could be adequately covered by the installation of two above-ground 5 000l tanks. Combine this with a borehole and grey water harvesting system and the household will reduce the demand on municipal sources significantly. The tenant, in turn, benefits from having reduced water costs as well as the assurance that they are unlikely to run out of water or be inconvenienced much, said Cockcroft.

For further information contact Cathy Cockcroft on 082 633 4484 or email cathy@saproperty.com.