Informal backyard rentals through a social sustainability lens – a case study in Oudtshoorn, South Africa

Abstract

Social sustainability is a significant field of research in post-apartheid South Africa, given the challenges and inequalities faced, evidenced in urban landscapes where millions reside in informal settlements and informal backyard rental accommodation. This article investigates the informal backyard rental phenomenon in South Africa through a social sustainability lens, focusing on a case study in Bridgton and Bongolethu, Oudtshoorn. Qualitative and quantitative research findings unveil several features in support of social sustainability framed by familial connections between landlords and backyard tenants. The article also uncovers certain challenges presented by informal backyard rentals and social sustainability, predominantly related to the quality of structures and certain social concerns. In its totality, the article provides a contextualised perspective on social sustainability in the informal backyard rental sector and provides the planning community and other decision makers with a more nuanced understanding of the complexities and potentials that may underpin it in small town South Africa and beyond.

Risking health for rental housing: Reviewing service access in the informal backyard rental sector

“…Together with others who do not qualify for, or have not applied for subsidy assistance, the destitute have settled in informal settlements and progressively in informal backyard rental (IBR) dwellings (Crankshaw, Gilbert & Morris 2000;Turok & Borel-Saladin 2014). The latter, typically as one or two roomed structures erected in the yards of formal dwellings of reclaimed zink, timber, cardboard, plastics and other found materials where they share in the services provided to their landlords (Brueckner et al 2019;Chetty 2017;Crankshaw et al 2000;Lategan & Cilliers 2019;Lemanski 2009;Morange 2002;Naidoo et al 2012). The 2018 General Household Survey reported 923 000 informal backyard households nationally (StatsSA 2018), constituting the fastest growing housing subsector in the country (Brueckner et al 2019;Scheba & Turok 2020;Tshangana 2013).…”