The South African property rental market is showing signs of recovery. This should be good news for landlords who have been struggling to collect their monthly rental from their tenants.

A recent report by die TPN Credit Bureau shows that 81% of tenants were in good standing during the first quarter of 2011 – 67% paid their rent on time while 14% paid late, but did pay the full rental amount. It was the third consecutive quarter where 81% of tenants were in good standing, indicating some new found stability in the market. According to TPN 9% of tenants paid only a part of their monthly rent and 10% did not pay at all. 

Data from TPN indicates a definite improvement – during the height of the economic downturn in the first quarter of 2009, only 71% of tenants were in good standing. However, during the second quarter of 2008 85% of tenants either paid their rent on time or paid late, but did pay the full amount.

With regards to the first quarter of 2011, property for rent in South Africa in the price bracket of R3 000 to R7 000 continues to prove the best bracket for rental payment performance – 84% of the tenants in this category were in good standing. According to TPN, tenant payments in the category below R3 000 and the R12 000 plus bracket have deteriorated to 75% and 74% respectively.