Your rent in NL/Canada/Aus etc is not relevant to Cape Town

Every time someone rightfully complains about the insane rental conditions in Cape Town some SA expat/immigrant comments about the rental situation in their chosen country.

“Oh that’s nothing compared to the rent I pay in The Hague”. Respectfully, who cares. Not only are salary much hire but that doesn’t mean anything for Capetonians.

I also lived abroad and yes rent was higher and more competitive but I also earned a lot more and my monthly expenses were less.

The reality is - Landlords own multiple properties and are pushing up rent to insane prices because of digital nomads, tourists, semigration. - With the high interests rates and the need for a deposit and other costs, buying a place is not possible for most right now - even buying far outside the popular areas have gotten more expensive and then you have to factor in additional petrol and travel costs - People are applying for rentals as soon as the ad goes up, without even seeing it - Rich foreigners are able to outbid people by paying 6months to a year’s rent upfront. - People can’t just uproot their lives and move to JHB, especially given that SA companies are anti work from home these days. I don’t know why this is always a suggestion.

It’s just super frustrating to hear “oh this is happening everywhere around the world”. Let people be annoyed jeez