Cape Town needs rent control. Here are six ways we could do it

Without fair regulation, most Cape Town residents will edge ever further away from a home in the city, argue the authors. Art work by Carla de Beer (used with permission, De Beer is the copyright holder, not published under Creative Commons)

From 2023 to 2024, the average rent in the Western Cape increased by 10%, about R1,020. If we narrow it down to Cape Town, the numbers are higher. According to a recent article by News24, the average monthly rental in the city centre is over R15,000, an increase of almost 30% year on year. Two bedroom flats went for an average of R28,630 per month, an increase of R3,880 since 2023.

The cost of housing, utilities, and food in South Africa continues to rise, with prices increasing by about 4.5% to 4.8% over the past year. The Western Cape is experiencing particularly strong price pressures. In June 2025, The Western Cape recorded the highest headline inflation rate among all provinces, at 3.7% year-on-year.

When about 76% of Capetonians earn under R22,000 a month according to the City of Cape Town, we must begin to ask serious questions: Why is rent in Cape Town so expensive? And what can be done about it?

The problem is structural. This is not just “the market”. It is rooted in a city with an unjust past, sustained by a lack of political will to address it adequately, and intensified by new technologies like Airbnb that increase inequality in our city.

Apartheid drew lines that pushed black families to the edges of the city. Today, those lines are maintained and even expanded because of financial speculation and rising rents.

Homes are treated solely as investments. Developers build for the wealthy, not for ordinary people.

Only 33% of new homes are priced for the majority of Capetonians who earn under R22,000.

The crisis has moved up the income ladder: even young professionals and the upper layers of the working class can no longer afford to live in areas like Gardens, Vredehoek, Tamboerskloof, or Zonnebloem.

As they move outward in search of cheaper housing, they outbid long-time residents of historically black neighbourhoods like Woodstock, Salt River, and Observatory, pushing those families even further from the city.

This is the line today: not drawn by apartheid planners, but by the price of renting a home. It quietly determines who belongs in Cape Town and who is forced out, replacing communities and deepening the divide between those who can live in the city and those who serve it.

Short‑term rental platforms have turbo-charged this trend. Cape Town has just over 26,000 Airbnb rentals. That’s far more than many major tourist hubs in Europe. Currently, there is no direct regulation of short-term rentals.

Tourism does bring money into Cape Town, but that money doesn’t flow to the communities that are displaced or to local economies.

We can change this. What we need is rent control. Not the clumsy, blunt kind, but the fair, targeted kind. When we say rent control, we refer to the tools communities and the state can use.

What we should do

First, we should cap extreme rent hikes in working class communities in relation to inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. People need stability and a predictable ceiling on annual increases.

This won’t fix supply, but it will stop sudden displacement. Other cities do this. They also tailor the rules by area and building type. So can Cape Town.

Second, we should properly regulate short‑term rentals. The City’s policy defines a ‘transient guest’ as someone staying for not more than 30 consecutive days per booking. But there is no system of registration of transient guests. A registration and data collection system could be used to fine landlords who do not register and to redirect some profit towards local communities. Cities like Barcelona and Berlin have introduced similar regulations. We can pick and adapt from the appropriate policies.

Third, we should protect and grow long‑term rentals. Landlords should be incentivised to keep properties in the long‑term rental market rather than converting them to short‑term tourist lets. Incentives could include targeted tax breaks or rebates for units leased long-term. At the same time, we should enforce penalties for harassment or illegal evictions intended to free up properties for short‑term profits. We should support the growth of tenant unions and community education to empower tenants to assert their rights. No one should be forced out of their home so it can be turned into a hotel room.

Fourth, we should increase the housing stock by expanding social housing and retrofitting abandoned state-owned buildings. The housing backlog in Cape Town is enormous. According to the City’s own estimates, it could take more than 70 years to clear the backlog at the current pace. Urgent action is needed to ensure that more homes are available for the people who need them.

We should fast‑track approvals for affordable units. Red tape adds years and extra costs to delivering much‑needed housing. As a regulator, the City has a constitutional obligation to ensure that housing is accessible. Inclusionary zoning is one of the tools it can use to do this. It requires private developers to include a portion of affordable units in new developments, or contribute an equivalent value to funding social housing. Yet, at present, all the City has produced is a non-binding concept note from 2019. We urgently need the implementation of a clear, enforceable Inclusionary Housing Policy. Making it mandatory would ensure that every large development helps to grow the long-term supply of affordable housing stock.

Fifth, we should stop the student housing gold rush from distorting neighbourhoods. Purpose-built student blocks with luxury amenities at R72,000 for ten months aren’t solving affordability. They pull land and finance away from modest, well-located rental stock. We should set clear affordability requirements in return for any public support or rebates.

Sixth, we should protect the informal rental backbone. Backyard and informal rentals house thousands of Capetonians. We should support safe upgrades, provide basic services, and formalise sensibly, without displacing people. This sector keeps families housed and connected to work and opportunity while the state works to expand formal housing stock. It should be treated as an integral part of the solution.

Some will say rent controls kill supply. That’s true when controls are rigid and badly designed. But we can be smart. Rent controls can be targeted and paired with supply measures, tax tools, and fair short‑term rental rules. The point is not to freeze a market. It’s to stop a free‑for‑all that prices out the people who make the city what it is.

This is a matter of human rights. Our Constitution protects access to adequate housing. Planning law has made spatial justice a mandatory obligation. These are not suggestions. They are instructions.

People love this city because it feels possible. Diverse. Messy. Alive. That spirit is worth defending. It won’t survive if every flat becomes a mini‑hotel and every lease becomes a gamble.

Communities need protection. We need homes, not just assets. We need places where people can stay, not just stay over.

The writers are members of Rent Control, a voluntary collective of artists, tenants, engineers and activists who care about housing, communities and justice.

Views expressed are not necessarily GroundUp’s.

More about Housing

• Hundreds of incomplete homes stand empty in KwaZulu-Natal housing project 17 November 2025
• Families living in temporary housing for 13 years accuse eThekwini of neglecting them 10 November 2025
• In photos: Fire at Wingfield refugee camp 06 November 2025

Support independent journalism
Donate using Payfast