A research report submitted to the Department of Town and Regional Planning, School of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment for the Degree of Master of Science in Housing / The influence of institutional rental housing policy (IRHP) on consumer choice in Johannesburg was evaluated through interviews with middle-income tenants and caretakers in Legae Gardens and JOSHCO Complex Two residences in reference to the Rental Act. Housing officials in Johannesburg Housing Company, Johannesburg Social Housing Company and Provincial Department of Housing were also interviewed. Primary data gained from interviews and observation of the residences and their surroundings was analysed based on Howard-Sheth and trade-off models of consumer choice and residential location respectively, with qualitativecomparative case study as the main research method. The IRHP has been translated into regeneration projects (institutional rentals (IRs) and infrastructure upgrading) and executed through planning principles such as mixed-use and neighbourhood safety based on national development goals (integration and sustainability). As affordable and quality IRs have been developed in preferable locations, this optimises consumer choice opportunities in terms of affordability, quality and location.

Thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Development Planning to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / The current increase in demand for accommodation in the Johannesburg northern suburbs is linked to the political and demographic changes that took place within South Africa post 1994. During this time there was a flight of affluent white South Africans away from what was then the centre of the country’s economy, the Johannesburg Central Business District (Garner, 2011). There has been an increase in the size of South Africa’s black middle class post 1994, due to the removal of racist legislation impeding the economic advancements of black South Africans, as well as due to the progressive affirmative action policies designed to fast track the advancement of black South Africans (Southall, 2016). Consequently, there has been a steady increase of black middle class people moving into the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. The study was conducted in the Sandton suburbs of Johannesburg, Gauteng. It sought to understand what factors have led to the increase in demand for accommodation in these suburbs from the black middle class. 27 interviews were conducted with participants in the case study areas of Illovo, Sandton Central Business District, Sandown, Bryanston and Sandhurst. The researcher made use of direct observations during the semi-structured interviews. The results showed that research in this area was imperative as it helped to explain the buying and renting patterns of the black middle class. This is important for property developers and the government because the black middle class is a fast growing economic subgroup within the country. This can impact on policy and property development in the country. The study found that the black middle class are moving to the northern suburbs for pragmatic reasons and that proximity to their places of work, proximity to amenities and security are the most important factors causing them to move. / MT2017

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of the Built Environment (Housing), to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / Johannesburg like many rapidly urbanising cities around the world has the problem of a lack of affordable accommodation and inadequate access to basic services (Tissington, 2013). Residents in the inner city use spaces and buildings in a way that reclaims the promises of the city to a better life. As historian and cultural theorist Abdou Maliq Simone (2004) has noted people within African Cities have a probable tendency to improvise. In this research I use the concept of evolutionary resilience, which has been described to account for individuals and households ability adapt in constantly changing environments (Simmie & Martin, 2010) to explore the responses of residents to precarious living conditions and vulnerability that is created by conditions of insecure tenure and evictions. There is little comparative empirical research about how inner city residents talk about their lives and experiences. This research contributes to filling this gap by examining the experiences of residents and highlighting the ways in which as Cirugeda (2004) points to, residents often use empowerment strategies that encourage inhabitants to subvert laws and regulations, in order to maximise self-help by appropriating structures for better living conditions (Cirugeda 2004). This research utilises in depth interviews that were conducted within selected buildings in the inner city using a semi structured interview guide. The objective is to examine the strategies of coping with the exposure to risk and how individuals respond to these shocks. Şoitu (undated) states that vulnerability is a situation of social, economic and physiological need when individuals are marginalised and resilience is a personal resource that allows individuals to face stress and shocks and provides strength (Şoitu, undated). This research finds that there are many difficulties, threats and vulnerabilities that residents are exposed to and residents invoke various strategies and responses for coping. KEYWORDS ‘Bad buildings’, inner city, Johannesburg, vulnerability, evolutionary resilience, precarious living conditions, basic services, insecure tenure / XL2018

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / The aim of the study was to carry out an analysis of the factors influencing tenants’ choice of residential property location in Mankweng Township. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The structured questionnaire, interview and documented literature were used to collect data. The data were analysed using the SPSS statistical package and the Excel spread sheet. To this end, specific working objectives were formulated as follows: to identify the types of residential property in the study area, to determine the factors which influence the choice of residential property location in the study area and lastly, to compare the relationships that exist among the residents in Mankweng Township. The results of the research showed that among all the factors marital status, age, household’s size, race, education and income were not among the factors influencing the choice of residential location in Mankweng Township. However, gender, employment status, distance from city centre, hospital, place of worship, security or police station, water and electricity significantly influenced the choice of residential location choice in Mankweng Township. The study therefore recommends government to be more responsive and active in the provision of urban infrastructure and services in every neighbourhood. This will help address the major reason why tenants search for accommodation from one location to another. In addition, real estate investors should consider the availability of infrastructure before choosing a location for community development. Thus, when urban facilities and services are evenly distributed, this may enhance proper development in the community

This dissertation analyses the South African Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 ("the RHA") with the aim of determining whether the RHA sufficiently protects the landlords‘ rights and interests as opposed to those of tenants (which it does indeed safeguard). Due to the current saturation of rental property in South Africa, landlords are no longer in an advantageous a position as before. In fact, the RHA was introduced to redress the imbalance caused by discrimination against tenants. However, times have changed. The researcher submits that the RHA needs to be re-examined in light perception of the landlord as a consumer. Having regard to both common and foreign law, the researcher identified the following four fundamental legal and practical rights on the part of the landlord: the right to freely contract; the right to safeguard financial interests; the right to safeguard proprietary interests; and the right to evict a defaulting tenant. The research reveals that the RHA does not give adequate recognition to these fundamental legal rights, and accordingly does not sufficiently protect the landlord as a consumer. In total nineteen recommendations how the RHA can adequately recognize and protect the landlord‘s interests are made.

Rooms’ and ‘spaces’ are two closely linked forms of accommodation where the unit of occupation and exchange is a portion of a larger building or property, within which services and facilities are shared. ‘Rooms’ and ‘spaces’ in the inner city represented two of very few typologies research participants were aware of that allowed them access to the livelihood opportunities Johannesburg had to offer. Through participant observation and qualitative interviews this study explores two buildings featuring informal rooms and spaces and one building featuring formal rooms and spaces in Johannesburg’s inner city. While formal rooms represented the most stable support to those specific occupants, there were several ‘barriers to entry’ including the prerequisite of a stable income. There was much to be learnt from the flexibility and diversity of rooms and spaces on the informal market, which enabled occupants to cope with insecure livelihood opportunities. The research demonstrated the incredible resilience of occupants in the face of an extreme shortage of affordable accommodation in Johannesburg’s inner city (Tissington, 2013). However, the findings suggested an adverse relationship between accommodation and livelihoods demonstrated by the three ‘forms’ of rooms and spaces, where the only form available to people with the least secure livelihoods is that which, in turn, subjects them to the greatest insecurity.