Self-builder landlordism: exploring the supply and production of private rental housing in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza
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Self‑builder landlordism: exploring the supply and production of private rental housing in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza Manja Hoppe Andreasen1 · Gordon McGranahan2 · Griet Steel3 · Sadaf Khan4 Received: 17 October 2019 / Accepted: 8 October 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Private rental markets accommodate a significant share of Africa’s rapidly growing urban populations. The vast majority of tenants are accommodated in rental housing supplied by private landlords. Few studies offer insights on the dynamics and logics shaping the supply and production of private rental housing in the context of African cities. This paper contributes to fill this remarkable knowledge gap with a study of the supply and production of private rental housing by self-builder households in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, two of the largest and fastest growing cities in Tanzania. This paper examines the motivations and aspirations of self-builder landlords, the type and quality of rental housing they supply and the logics shaping their investments in housing quality and tenants’ access to services. The paper argues that housing policies should acknowledge the significance of private rental housing in accommodating growing urban populations and the contribution of small landlords, such as the self-builders in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, in the supply and production of private rental housing. Furthermore, any policies seeking to increase the availability and quality of affordable rental housing should be informed by in-depth understanding of the perspectives of such landlords. While concerns regarding lack of protection of tenants’ rights and sub-standard accommodation are often justified, great care is needed, as policies promoting tenants’ rights or enforcing minimum standards could undermine the supply of new rental housing or make rents wholly unaffordable for the poorest tenants. Keywords Private landlords · Rental housing · Informal housing · Rental market · Selfbuilders · Small-scale landlordism · Africa · Tanzania
1 Introduction African cities are growing. UN projections show that the total number of urban residents in Africa will reach over a billion by 2040 from a level of app. 500 million in 2015 (UNDESA 2018). Rental housing is instrumental in accommodating rapidly growing urban populations. Compared to owner-occupier housing, rental housing is often easy to * Manja Hoppe Andreasen [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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access and involves low up-front costs, which is essential for low-income people and new migrants in the cities (Gilbert 2008; UN-Habitat 2003). Most urban residents will rent for at least part of their lives, because it offers flexibility and eases residential mobility (Gilbert 2008, 2016). Some will rent throughout their lives, as homeownership may not be a realistic option for all (Gunter and Massey 2017; Gulyani et al. 2018). The share of urban households accommodated in rental housing ranges from app
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