Trafalgar: Rental Vacancy Increasing

With inflation rising all the landlords out there are starting to think that now is the time to raise rent. Not so fast:

Middle-income households who rent are beginning to show economic stress, Andrew Schaefer, managing director of national property managers Trafalgar, said on Thursday.

"Our offices throughout SA report that vacancies in flats renting at R4 000 to R7 000 per month are rising, a typical occurrence in the late downward phase of the economic cycle," he said.

Raising rent in an economic downturn is the best way to find yourself sitting with an empty flat. Good tenants are worth their weight in gold.

Also I don't think we're in the 'late downward phase of the economic cycle'.