Drawing on the findings in a report on “The workings of township residential property market” by Shisaka Development Management Services, Rawson says that, right now the market is being held back and bogged down by a variety of factors, the most important of which is a lack of Deeds Registry documentation.

“Less than 15 percent of township people have bought a home in the last six years and under 10 percent of proclaimed township properties have in that period been registered at the Deeds Office,” says Rawson.

The data in this report is confirmed by the latest SAPTG (South African Property Transfer Guide) figures for Langa and Khayelitsha, which clearly show that the number of transfers in these areas remained virtually unchanged in 2005.

Rawson says that the situation is exacerbated by limited access to finance, which still, despite the goodwill of the banks, is hampering property dealing. The lack of legal title and possible illegal location of township properties is still the number one limiting factor.

Cultural element plays its part

“Reading through reports on this subject,” says Rawson, “it is clear that only a minority of township people have as yet understood the wealth creation role that trading in residential property can play in a person’s life. In many cases the only aim of township people is to hold onto their property to the end of their lives so that they can pass it on to their children. This is wholly understandable: one of the big plus factors is a strong sense of community and a reluctance to leave an area in which one has family, friends — and departed ancestors.

“Nevertheless, it is also clear from the latest sales figures of companies like NewHco, MSP and a host of others operating on the East and West Rand and around Pretoria that any affordable home (i.e. priced between R150 000 and R600 000) in a new development outside of the townships will find a swarm of eager new buyers.

“It is therefore quite apparent that it is only a matter of time before large numbers of homes in the traditional older townships begin to be put through the full registration process.

'Township market will come alive'

"Once that is achieved we can rely on their being upgraded and eventually coming onto the market. The Deeds Office’s — and of course estate agents’ — challenge is now to educate township property owners into the value of deeds registration and to find ways of cutting out the red tape which so often makes this type of registration impossible.

"Once this is achieved, I have absolutely no doubt that the township market can and will come alive in a way that has time and again been prophesised for it.”