OWNERS of private student accommodation are set to meet with a forum focused on problem properties. The purpose of the meeting is to bring together the various municipal, residential, and student stakeholders to ensure safe and legally-compliant student accommodation in Durban’s residential areas.

Areas of concern include Glenwood, Glenmore, Umbilo, Carrington Heights, Berea, Manor Gardens, and Reservoir Hills.
Niki Moore, the director of Problem Properties Forum, urges all parties involved to attend, including community members.

“Since our work last year, a lot has happened, but a lot has not changed. We are still sitting with student accommodation properties without proper building plans, flawed accreditation, and overcrowding. These buildings are non-compliant, rowdy, unsafe, and have no control measures.
“The universities are unable to enforce control measures because there is no tracking system for where the students live. Students run into problems where they get attacked, robbed, raped, or evicted, and they have nowhere to run,” Moore said.

Also read: Residents, businesses seek to flee rowdy students’ street

She added there is a vacuum between service providers, the City, and the universities. “That is the gap we are working on closing while clamping down on irregularities. Problem Properties came up with an idea to short-circuit processes which are inefficient and dragging.

“We have been working with eThekwini Municipality since 2023, and progress has been incredibly slow. There are illegal student residences that were reported since 2023 and no action has been implemented. Some properties were issued with contravention orders, but violations continue. There is no residence which has since been shut down, only the raids and temporary switching off of power is meted on violating properties.”

She added that the forum engaged with the municipality last year, and highlighted its loss of R20m due to unpaid rates and taxes, whereby properties are registered as residential but operate as accommodation businesses. This is one engagement they would like to see continue and yield fruits, she said.

Also read: ‘Glenwood cannot take another student res’

Moore mentioned that the meeting would provide a platform for property owners to get a clearer understanding of compliance. Problem Properties promises to act against those who intentionally flout the rules.

To attend, contact Niki via Whatsapp on 071 932 8925. The meeting will be held at Berea Bowling club on Thursday, February 5 at 17:00.

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