August 4 2025 22:00
Somaya Joshua, Managing Executive: Commercial Property Finance, Absa
SOUTH AFRICA
The South African Multifamily Residential Rental Association (SAMRRA) has announced that Absa has joined as its newest member becoming the second of South Africa’s banks to formally align with the country’s multifamily rental housing representative body.
“This institutional partnership signals that multifamily housing is moving from emerging opportunity to mainstream investment,” said Palesa Mkhize, CEO of SAMRRA.
“We are thrilled to welcome Absa as a member. With two of South Africa’s largest banks now at the table, we’re seeing the sector’s financial participation begin to align with its physical and operational maturity,” she said.
SAMRRA, which was launched early in 2024, includes a group of specialist residential operators and landlords, who are committed to attracting reliable and trust-worthy investors, who can foster a strong present and future for this industry.
SAMRRA institutionalises South African multifamily rentals as it looks to support inclusive investment, to help owners to generate consistent returns while helping stakeholders.
Absa’s membership which includes Standard Bank, represents “a significant vote of confidence in a sector that now spans over 75,000 purpose-built rental units and more than R40bn in assets”, according to Mkhize.
Multifamily residential properties are housing units built for rent, not for sale. These commonly include apartment buildings and multiple housing units within a single complex or estate. Institutional investors may own these large-scale rental properties and then have them managed by professional and specialist residential property operators. These residential units are separate from the different variations of social housing such as gap and breaking new ground (BNG) houses which were previously called Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses. These rental units also must not be mixed up with the housing units which developers build and then deliver to the homeowner market for sale.
Multifamily residential property is a large asset class in the likes of the US and Germany, but institutional investment in SA multifamily housing is, however, still relatively small.
As the multifamily model enjoys occupancy above 95%, collections above 98%, and bad debt below 1%, institutional interest is rising across the board, from developers and asset managers to lenders and capital markets, Mkhize said.
“We see the multifamily rental sector as central to the future of housing in South Africa. It combines social relevance with investment resilience, which is exactly the kind of long-term value we seek to support,” said Somaya Joshua, Managing Executive: Commercial Property Finance at Absa Corporate and Investment Banking.
“With this partnership, we are committing to continue providing innovative financing solutions and strategic insights to the multifamily sector,” she said.
SAMRRA’s broader mission is to foster collaboration and improve data transparency across South Africa’s multifamily rental landscape.
“Banks are crucial partners in this. Beyond the finance they provide, they have a strategic role in enabling development, supporting affordability and reinforcing investability,” said Mkhize.
“Absa’s involvement with SAMRRA is a call to the wider investment community: the future of housing is about more than simply scale; it’s about alignment. Alignment between capital and purpose, risk and reward, and between the partners who will shape South Africa’s cities for generations to come,” she said.
alistair@propertyflash.co.za
