 For some buying a new house or apartment doesn't quite fit into their budget so naturally the next option is renting. Today we take a look at what rights you have as a potential tenant and how this process works. We have two property experts with us in the loft to discuss everything there is to know when it comes to renting. Simon Bray, CEO and of private property as well as just property groups director and CEO Paul Stevens. Gents, warm welcome to the loft. Good to have you back Simon. Great to be back you know and talking about something with quite a lot of gravity to it. Absolutely. So where exactly is the renting market like at the moment? What does private property see? The renting market is just as hot as it's ever been in South Africa. I mean we see a lot of the market on private property. We see the listings coming on every day. We've seen hundreds more rental properties coming onto the platform in the last few months and I think it's just the market shifting slightly you know. A lot of the first world markets around the world are rental first and certainly the property market in South Africa has been a by first market but issues around affordability, issues around you know how safe is my property investment these days are convincing people that renting is perhaps a better option. So it's really really hot right now. I mean what we like to say is there are 50 tenants for every landlord on private property right now. It's just an unbelievable demand. And like you said renting is all about the idea of affordability. So what are some of the benefits of renting over buying? Well obvious benefits are things like flexibility and affordability. You know we still have a market where it's much cheaper to rent in the areas you want to live than buy. So if you have budget constraints of any kind it obviously makes sense to look at renting. Obviously you're not building up that long-term asset because you're paying somebody else over a period of time but it is still much more affordable to rent and then there is this concept of flexibility. You know our lives are shifting so quickly these days this concept of stability that that people had maybe 10 20 years ago is not nearly the same you know you might pick up and move you know might get a new relationship a new job whatever the case might be and and so the flexibility of being able to up and leave within a couple of months is a great facility. Something I've noticed particularly in our country in South Africa and it's a beautiful nation I think one of the things is that the law sometimes seems to feel a little bit distant to the average person and I'm sure when it comes to renting or buying the legalities around that tend to be quite blurry and people don't really know what their rights and responsibilities are. Do you have any comments on that? Well I think I think the truth is the law is pretty straightforward it's pretty simple but a lot of people just don't know what their rights are and we've got an advice platform that that deals with all sorts of questions and all sorts of queries and the most searched for issues are around rentals what deposit should I pay what should my lease agreements say what do I do if a tenant doesn't pay you know like is there an eviction process that I should be aware of and people are desperately searching for that kind of information and and I think it is because it's a murky world you know you go from one landlord to the next and sometimes you treat it differently and you don't know exactly what your your rights are. And prices across areas vary so differently that you never really know what's the right value for specific area and so it's exciting to have you in the lot with us today. Tell us more about the idea of renting and the legalities around that. What should we look for when it comes to starting to rent something? I think the most important thing with tenants to try and assess before you rent a property is do you have an impaired credit history and we are finding in the market at the moment that close to 50% of tenants that are applying for a place aren't qualifying just simply due to their impaired credit history. So generally people are going to know that they've got an impaired credit history so they need to go and deal with that. Go and see an attorney and get it sorted out it's not difficult make sure you get it behind you because whether you're renting or buying a property this is going to hold you back. So sort that out first and foremost once that's sorted out you can start tackling the simple things like what is the most important you mentioned earlier Simon is affordability you've got to ensure that you can afford a place. Don't take a place that you can't afford and very often people will approach a rental agency dreaming of living in Camps Bay but they can afford to live in Citiball. So it's actually a very simple mathematical equation that we use as rental agencies where basically you take your net income after taxes and 30% of that can be used as a general term towards your rental. So as a simple sum 10,000 rand you can as a net amount you can afford a 3,000 rand rental. Very simple but use a professional agency let them advise you and most importantly I know it came up earlier in our conversation is location and that's a very simple assessment you want to live close to schools if you've got children you want to live close proximity to a transport route if you don't have transport. I think those are really lifestyle questions but the big one that people come up with is the legalities around it. I think that lease arrives in your email inbox to have a look through and says to prove this lease sign it and we never really know what to look for I think. What are some of the things we should be focusing on when we receive that lease for the first time how does that process work do I have a say do I have rights are the basics that should be in every lease? Absolutely I think first and foremost and and that's where a little stumbling block comes with a lot of tenants that rent from a private landlord ensure that and it's not legal that it has to be in writing a lease agreement can be a verbal agreement but ensure that it's in writing if things are verbally discussed even if it's a parking bay or something about the alarm if you've negotiated this ensure it's done in the terms and conditions even if it's special conditions later because issues do arise and they often arise at a later point where everyone's forgotten what they'd negotiated or discussed earlier so first and foremost make sure it's in writing and then there's simple conditions like the rental amount is that all I'm due to pay or are there other amounts that I have to pay do I have to pay for the alarm do I have to pay levies do I have to pay the rates and taxes generally a lot of those costs are associated with the landlord so know your rights and a lot of this is available online you can go and as Simon said not just on private property you can go and Google Rental Housing Act and very clearly there it stipulates what needs to be who's what the basics of the lease contract is who's rights so ensure you're not being hoodwinked with costs because very often there are also even when dealing with a reputable rental agency such as ourselves you need to ensure that you're well aware of what costs come particularly when things don't go right and you're wanting to move you're getting transferred now it is becoming a small world so next month you transferred to another country you need to give notice there are penalty clauses so make sure you understand it and with the CPA which is a new law that was passed a few years ago a lease agreement needs to be clear and understood and even though it is your layperson very often can't understand the things so ask and understand before you land yourself in trouble I think that's the key is ultimately it's a contractual relationship between two parties so the landlord and tenants are saying this is the framework that we're going to govern our relationship based on so you absolutely have the rights to negotiate things up front do you want additional security before you move in do you want an aircon and there's not yet an aircon provided it's not the type of thing you really want to wrangle with months down the line you actually want to deal with that at the beginning how's it going to get paid for when's it going to get installed just put it in the lease exactly and what's nice about your two platforms that you do have an option to go and find this information out you are not left in the dark you can go and find out so use the resources that are available to you I think the single biggest thing I'd like to point out at this stage of what we see almost 95% of the issues that arise is around a deposit a deposit is a huge thing for your average tenant he's often having to place a deposit and the first month rental while his deposit is still locked up with another agency then the tendency ends and there's always a dispute around what amount do I get paid back and if they understand very clearly from the onset what they need to do so they've got to bring the property back to the condition that it was taking fair wear and tear into account and I think that always leads to miscommunication where they don't understand why don't they just do it themselves clean the carpets you know as soon as the agency is put in place or the landlord to paint the place to clean the carpets and then the tenant wants to argue about well I've been overcharged yeah so I think again comes back to understanding yeah what you can do and what you can do and you've seen it all so people must use this resource that's available to them so make sure that you guys know all the nuances you've seen every sort of action take place so make sure you guys go and find the right resources online so Jens absolutely eye-opening thank you so much for this chat hopefully we have shed some light on the topic of renting so that you can make a more informed decision remember you have your rights as a tenant but also you have responsibilities so make sure that you read your contract well and know what is expected from both yourself and your landlord