More pay rent on time

Johannesburg - Tenants are under less pressure and rent payments have improved in the second quarter of this year. But whether this will be sustainable is debatable because there are already signs that tenants in some of the provinces are being hurt by shorter working hours.

The overall figure for tenants that have paid their rents on time has increased 4% to 61%, as indicated by new research from the Tenant Profile Network. But at the same time 16% paid late, 9% a portion and 14% not at all.

TPN managing director Michelle Dickens says the improvement is most evident in the rental category of R12 000 and more a month, whereas the proportion of tenants failing to pay in the previous quarter declined from 37% to 23%.

But the number of those paying late increased sharply from 12% to 28%. Only 38% paid on time. She said this category poses the biggest challenge with regard to rent collection. She describes the improvement largely to the impact of lower interest rates, which leaves more money in people's pockets.

In the category of rentals under R3 000 a month, 52% paid on time, 16% late, 12% a portion and 20% not at all.

The category comprising rentals from R3 000 to R7 000 had the best showing in the quarter, with 66% paying on time, 13% late, 8% a portion and 13% not at all.

In the category R7 000 tot R12 000, 56% paid on time, 20% late, 9% a portion and 15% not at all.

In the Western Cape 66% of the tenants paid on time, 61% in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, and 68% in the Eastern Cape.

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