Free download: SA Student Accommodation Monitor 2026
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Free download: SA Student Accommodation Monitor 2026. My Student House has released the first edition of its South African Student Accommodation Monitor, called The Beds, the Money, and the Gap. It's an investor-led analysis of the student accommodation market, covering demand, supply, funding, returns and risk. The 32-page report combines verified public data with proprietary evidence, including a grade census of about 9,600 accredited properties across seven provinces, and an analysis of 1.4 million NSFAS accommodation payment records. It also looks at deeds-registry price trends, the real cost to serve a bed, and risks like campus unrest and NSFAS governance. MSH says the report aims to give landlords, investors, funders, institutions and policymakers "a properly sourced, honestly caveated reference point". My Student House itself operates 1,879 beds across 55 properties in Cape Town, Gauteng, Potchefstroom, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein, and is led by founder and managing director Retha van Rooyen. The Monitor is meant to become an annual publication, tracking the same six indices edition on edition. The full report is free to download. Read the full story by REI Editorial on rei.co.za.
My Student House has released the first edition of its South African Student Accommodation Monitor, The Beds, the Money, and the Gap: an investor-led analysis of the student accommodation market covering demand, supply, funding, returns and risk. It combines verified public data with proprietary evidence from national payment records, register censuses and the MSH portfolio. The full 32-page report is free to download.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE REPORT: SA Student Accommodation Monitor 2026 (PDF, 2.3 MB)
Inside this edition
- An investor dashboard and a worked twenty-bed example
- A grade census of about 9,600 accredited properties across seven provinces
- 1.4 million NSFAS accommodation payment records analysed
- Deeds-registry price and volume trends in the student suburbs
- The measured cost to serve a bed, booked and full economic
- Campus unrest, welfare and the funder's own audit record
What the report covers
- How the System Works: an orientation for readers new to the sector
- The Sector at a Glance: six indices, the investor dashboard and a worked example
- Demand: enrolment, NSFAS funding and where demand concentrates
- Supply & the Bed Shortage: where the shortfall comes from, and where the money lands
- Capital Flows into Student Housing: who is funding beds, and how fast
- The NSFAS Economy: an exclusive analysis of national accommodation payments
- Rentals & Returns: what students actually pay, and where
- Inside the Portfolio: occupancy, collections and funding mix at MSH
- The Cost to Serve a Bed: five years of rising costs against a fixed ceiling
- Regional Spotlights: the best oversupply signal in South Africa
- Risk & Policy Watch: NSFAS governance, accreditation, unrest, welfare and Budget 2026
- Outlook: where the sector goes next
Who it is for
MSH says the report aims to give landlords, investors, funders, institutions and policymakers "a properly sourced, honestly caveated reference point". The Monitor is intended as an annual publication, with its six indices tracked edition on edition so the sector can read its own direction of travel over time.
About My Student House
My Student House is a student accommodation operator focused on the affordable, accredited segment, with 1,879 beds across 55 properties serving NSFAS-funded and private-paying students in Cape Town, Gauteng, Potchefstroom, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein. Its founder and managing director is Retha van Rooyen. The report notes that the Monitor began as an idea REI's Neale Petersen put to its author two years before this first edition, and that he reviewed a draft.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE REPORT (PDF, 32 pages)
Contact My Student House: getinfo@mystudenthouse.co.za or mystudenthouse.co.za
