Most South Africans have little choice about whether to rent or to buy a house. Sometimes both are beyond their means. There are not enough houses to rent and they cannot afford to buy decent houses. But things are opening up.
The government has announced that it is going to guarantee housing loans for those earning from R3 501 to R15 000 a month under its Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP).
This group was excluded from the housing market because they were too rich to qualify for RDP housing but too poor to get loans from banks.
The market is now open, but the houses might not be there. Outstanding housing demand is about 2.1 million units.
With the government developing rental accommodation and houses for sale, the question becomes, which is better?
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