Issue 04 · Sunday 1 November 2026

4,300 words, about 17 minutes

IN THIS ISSUE

•      You will sign your 2027 leases before anyone tells you what NSFAS will pay

•      Who really decides the NSFAS cap, and why NSFAS has less money this year

•      What the Deputy Minister and NSFAS said at last week's summit, and where they disagree

•      The payments to check before NSFAS's 30 November claims deadline

What you are getting. This brief goes out once a month. All of it is free, and all of it is free to forward. Written by me, not by a team.

The bottom line. NSFAS promised its 2027 rules by the end of October. They are not out. At a summit on 28 October the Deputy Minister of Higher Education said he hopes they will be ready "during November", and that there is no guarantee landlords will be paid from February. Until something changes, the most NSFAS pays for a bed in the big cities stays at R52,000 a year. Nobody in the system is required to work out what a bed actually costs, and NSFAS has R3.9 billion less to spend this year than last. My advice: price 2027 at this year's rate, write leases that adjust when NSFAS publishes, and check every 2026 payment now.

1. WHAT MOVED

Government and NSFAS disagree on who should place your tenants

At the Affordable Student Housing Summit on 28 October, Deputy Minister Yusuf Cassim said universities should take more responsibility for student accommodation, with NSFAS watching over them and stepping in when a university fails.

The next morning an NSFAS official said the opposite. When universities want to take over, "we don't agree". Students should "go online and choose where they want to stay, because we don't want any committee that will do the placement."

Both sides pointed to the same problem. Some universities rent beds from private owners, claim the full amount from NSFAS and pass on only part of it. The NSFAS official gave an example: a university paying a landlord R2,800 a month while claiming R5,200 from NSFAS.

The Deputy Minister also said there is "no way" to change the system properly before 2027.

What it means for you: expect today's mixed system, where some students are placed by universities and some through NSFAS, to carry on for at least another year.

NSFAS has R3.9 billion less to spend this year

You may have heard that October's mini-budget cut NSFAS by R5 billion. I checked. That is not quite what happened, but the real cut is similar, and it came earlier.

Treasury's budget in February set NSFAS's spending at R54.3 billion for this financial year, down from R58.2 billion last year. That is R3.9 billion less. Once you allow for inflation, NSFAS can buy about 11% less than it could a year ago. A funding expert at the summit gave the same 11% figure. Treasury's plan does not get back to last year's level even by 2028/29. These totals include money NSFAS recovers from student loan repayments, not only what government gives it.

October's mini-budget did not put the money back. The Finance Minister did not mention NSFAS in his speech. Handle with care: the only comment I found on NSFAS in the mini-budget comes from the union NEHAWU, which says Treasury called NSFAS a spending "risk" because it needs more than the higher education budget can give.

To keep things going, the Department of Higher Education has paid NSFAS R4 billion early, R2 billion in September and R2 billion in October. That money went to university tuition, not to landlords.

NSFAS's leadership is also temporary. Its acting CEO, Waseem Carrim, was appointed to run the Road Accident Fund on 1 October. Handle with care: this comes from one news report, and I found no replacement named. The board is only in place under a temporary court order, and the final hearing is due by the end of November.

What it means for you: less money, nearly 870,000 applications for 2027 and an accommodation bill of about R18 billion a year. When money is that tight, the easiest thing to do is leave the cap where it is. Late payments remain your risk.

Universities are renting private beds instead of fixing their own

Our tender scan picked up a lot of maintenance tenders from universities and colleges, so I checked whether campus beds are about to come back. They are not. The one university where I could compare years, the University of the Free State, issued slightly fewer tenders this year than last. Most are routine repair contracts being renewed before December, not residence makeovers.

The real trend is the other way. Universities are leaning on private owners:

•      Fort Hare advertised for 2,529 private beds in East London until the end of 2028, up from 2,034 last time.

•      TUT is looking for private accommodation providers. Its tender, TR 45-2026, closes on Tuesday 3 November at 23:59.

•      DUT is offering two empty Durban residences, 452 beds in all, to private companies to fix up and run for about 30 years.

•      The Development Bank and Treasury are funding 3,500 new beds for TUT, to be built and run by a private company.

Government counts 9,907 university-owned beds standing empty. Fewer than 1,500 of them are linked to a known repair project.

What it means for you: campus beds will not take your tenants in 2027, except possibly near VUT, SMU, TUT and the University of Limpopo, where new or repaired beds are coming.

If someone manages your property, they still need a PPRA certificate

In September the High Court in Pretoria ruled that owners selling their own property do not need to register with the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA). Anyone who manages property for someone else and gets paid for it still does. The court also threw out the rule that you need a BEE certificate to get a PPRA certificate. The Constitutional Court still has to confirm both parts of the ruling.

Renewals for 2027 closed on 31 October. From today, late applications cost R153 a month per person.

What it means for you: if a managing agent runs your property, ask to see their 2027 certificate.

2. THE PRICE NOBODY HAS SET

You will sign your 2027 leases before NSFAS tells you what it will pay

Three things to know first

The cap is the most NSFAS will pay for one student's accommodation in a year. Since 2025 it has been R52,000 in the big cities and about R42,000 to R43,000 elsewhere.

NSFAS's 2027 funding rules set the amount of every NSFAS allowance, including the cap, and how the money is paid out. Officially they are called the bursary guidelines.

The accommodation rulebook, officially the Student Accommodation Protocol, will decide who approves your property, who inspects it, how complaints are handled and what happens if a property fails.

All three are still drafts. That is the story.

I was in the room

I spent 28 and 29 October at the 8th Annual Affordable Student Housing Summit. Deputy Minister Cassim spoke on the first day. Two officials from NSFAS's student housing team, a manager and the senior manager, spoke on the second.

On the 2027 funding rules, the Deputy Minister said: "It was supposed to be finalised by the end of October, but I anticipate that it will be finalised, hopefully during November." He did not promise a date. A written answer to Parliament on 14 October puts the 2027 accommodation policy in January 2027.

He called the accommodation rulebook "really the key document that will affect you". It is still out for comment, and he said: "I cannot predict at this point what will be the final adopted protocol."

He was just as clear about what will not change: "There's no way that you can change the system fundamentally before 2027. So the likely way forward is there will be a hybrid model that continues, which nobody wants actually."

And on payment: "I don't think there's any guarantee [that] accommodation in its current format will be paid from February." He said NSFAS should promise landlords in writing that it will pay them directly.

Who actually decides the cap

Most landlords direct their anger at NSFAS. It is worth knowing who actually decides.

The law gives NSFAS the job of drawing up the funding rules, working with the Minister. The Minister signs them off.

At the summit the NSFAS manager explained how it works in practice. NSFAS's student housing team draws up a proposal. It goes to the CEO, then to the board. "If the board agrees, then they need to take it to the ministry. Then the Minister will have to sign it." In the official's words, "there's no one person."

So NSFAS proposes, and the Minister decides. Asked what the 2027 figure would be, the official would not say. The proposals have gone up the chain and are waiting for approval.

There is a bigger point. In August NSFAS's own lawyers told Parliament that NSFAS can decide how much it pays, but probably cannot tell a landlord what to charge. Unlike NERSA, which sets electricity prices, NSFAS has no legal power to set prices.

In plain terms, the cap is a spending limit, not a fair price. Nobody in the system is required to work out what it costs to provide a safe, compliant student bed. That is the root of the whole fight.

How the number was set

The cap started in 2023 at R45,000 a year. NSFAS told Parliament it based the figure on past claims, market data, research and a workshop that asked what cap "would be acceptable to the market". In other words, it asked what the market would accept. It did not add up the real costs.

It went up to R50,000 in the big cities in 2024 and R52,000 in 2025, then stayed at R52,000 for 2026. I could find no published method for any of these numbers, and no public comment process.

The number: R5,200

R52,000 spread over a ten-month lease is R5,200 a month. But your costs run for twelve months.

While the cap has stayed flat, costs have not. Municipal electricity went up about 9% in July, and Eskom wants about another 9% for 2027/28. Handle with care: the 2027/28 figure comes from one news report, and the energy regulator has not decided yet. General inflation was 4.5% in September.

The other side of the story: the Deputy Minister said NSFAS now spends about R18 billion a year on accommodation, its biggest single cost. About 85% of NSFAS-funded university students live in accommodation NSFAS pays for. "That is not sustainable," he said.

And the pot is smaller. NSFAS has R3.9 billion less to spend this year than last (see section 1). Any increase to the cap in 2027 has to come out of less money.

Where the room disagreed

The Deputy Minister said that in some areas the cap has become "a target rental". Landlords charge the full cap even where normal rents are lower. In other areas, he said, the cap is below normal rents. He also said some providers have "become very wealthy through the system".

Landlords say being underpaid is the bigger problem. Their association SANSAA has asked for R66,000. Another industry body, the PSHA, told Parliament the cap is 25.5% below what a compliant bed really costs. Universities South Africa wants a cap that changes by area and quality, and goes up each year with building costs.

Both sides can be right at the same time. One national figure pays too much in some towns and too little in others. The Deputy Minister wants students placed first in beds priced at or below the cap, and wants rates linked to a property's grade. None of this has been decided.

They want our input, but there is nowhere to send it

NSFAS asked the room for ideas at least four times on 29 October. The manager suggested writing to NSFAS's senior managers with the summit's recommendations.

No form, email address or deadline was given. The summit's chairperson asked for a proper system to track submissions, "so that they are not only noted, not a wish list".

My view, and this is opinion: Parliament's meeting on 28 August was not real consultation. Landlords were allowed to speak, but nothing came back. Two months later the rules are still drafts, the October deadline has passed, and landlords signing 2027 leases in the next six weeks have no number to work with. So yes, we are stuck waiting.

Approvals: re-checks are coming, and an extension is being discussed

NSFAS's senior manager said re-checking approved properties is her main focus for the next three to six months. Most approval certificates were issued for three years, she said, with no checks in between. The next round will involve universities and others, not only NSFAS's inspectors.

The Deputy Minister does not believe there are enough people to re-check every property whose approval is running out. He has asked NSFAS to consider extending approvals by 12 months where there have been no complaints, with joint inspections and a chance to fix problems. He asked us not to report this as decided, and it is not. It is an idea under discussion.

If your NSFAS approval dates from early 2024, nothing has been published yet about renewing it.

What I cannot tell you yet

What the 2027 cap will be, or whether it will vary by area and grade.

Whether the 12-month extension will happen, and for whom.

What the final accommodation rulebook says, and who will approve your property in 2027.

When the first 2027 payment will arrive. Handle with care: an NSFAS official linked it to universities closing registration and mentioned a date near 25 March, but the recording is too unclear to rely on.

My recommendation

This is opinion, kept apart from the facts above.

The cap should be set the way NERSA sets electricity prices. I have been calling for this and will keep doing so.

NERSA does not ask what the market will accept. It works out what it really costs to provide the service. It adds up the cost of the buildings and equipment, the cost of running and maintaining them, and a fair return for the people who paid for them. It sets the price for a few years at a time, holds public hearings first, and corrects the price later if it turns out too high or too low. And unlike NSFAS, NERSA has a legal power to set prices.

For a student bed, the same approach means a cap built from what a compliant bed actually costs: a fair return on the building, plus electricity, water, rates, insurance, maintenance, security and management, plus money set aside to replace things that wear out. Set it by region and by grade. Fix it for three years. Adjust it each year in line with inflation and approved electricity prices. Publish the workings, and hold a hearing.

It works in both directions, and that is the point. Where landlords charge the full cap even though their costs are lower, a formula brings the price down. Where the cap is below cost, a formula brings it up. It answers the Deputy Minister's complaint and the landlords' complaint in the same way.

Parliament's higher education committee has already asked the Department to commission an independent investigation and propose a cap based on evidence (committee report, 23 September). A formula is what that looks like.

Until then, here is what I would do:

•      Price NSFAS beds for 2027 at this year's cap. Do not ask NSFAS students to pay extra on top of it.

•      Write your 2027 leases so the rent adjusts to whatever rate NSFAS publishes for 2027, up or down.

•      Plan your cash flow for the first 2027 payment to arrive well after February.

•      Send your real cost per bed to NSFAS's student housing team and your association now: electricity, water, rates, maintenance, insurance, security and management. If they want our input, give them numbers they cannot ignore.

None of this guarantees what NSFAS will pay in 2027. Nobody can promise that right now, including me.

3. ONE THING WORTH FIXING

Claim every 2026 rand NSFAS still owes you before 30 November

According to a local newspaper's report of an NSFAS notice from September, NSFAS will pay two months of accommodation together today, 1 November. Landlords must claim any unpaid 2026 accommodation by 30 November, and a final catch-up payment is expected in mid-December. After 30 November, claims will be looked at "case-by-case". Handle with care: the report was about a TVET college, so check the date on the NSFAS provider portal before you rely on it.

At the summit the Deputy Minister was blunt: "The outstanding claims need to be reconciled and finalised." Where NSFAS stopped funding a student after they moved in, he said NSFAS can still pay. But where NSFAS paid the money to the student instead of the landlord, he said "there isn't an answer to that issue". NSFAS cannot pay the same amount twice without the Auditor-General flagging it.

That second case is the one to find now, while there is still time to argue it.

Here is why I would not wait. For my talk at the summit I went through My Student House's own books. Compared with this time last year, a noticeably bigger share of our 2026 rent is still unpaid, and almost all of what is owed is for NSFAS-funded students.

The difference is not the students. It is the route the money takes. Where the university pays us directly, almost nothing is outstanding. Where the money comes through a payment app, or through NSFAS's portal companies, the gaps are far larger, and they are largest for TVET students paid through the portal.

The TVET gap reflects a new payment route still finding its feet, not a problem with TVET students.

Working out whether you have been paid is a job in itself. This year the money usually arrives first, and the details of which student it was for come three to six weeks later. To get that picture, we matched every payment, payment statement and query against our books, student by student. It is slow. It is also the only way to know what to claim.

Here is how to do it for each property:

•      List every NSFAS-funded tenant for 2026, and the months they lived there.

•      Next to each name, list every payment received. Use bank statements and NSFAS payment statements, not memory.

•      Mark every gap. For each one, note whether the student lost funding, was paid directly, or simply was not paid.

•      Check each payment for a deduction of about 5%. Two reliable sources disagree on whether NSFAS's portal fee still applies this year. Your own statements will tell you.

•      Claim every gap before 30 November, and keep proof that you did.

The bed you do not claim for now is the bed you will be told is "case-by-case" in January.

4. WHAT IS NEXT

Today, 1 November · NSFAS pays two months of accommodation together*

Why it matters: the biggest 2026 payment still due. Check your bank and payment statements this week.

Tuesday 3 November · TUT's tender for private accommodation providers (TR 45-2026) closes at 23:59

Why it matters: an open opportunity for Pretoria landlords, two days from now.

During November · NSFAS's 2027 funding rules (the Deputy Minister's hope, not a promise)

Why it matters: the first chance to see the 2027 cap, and whether it varies by area and grade.

Mid-November · The Department reports to Parliament on how the cap should be set and how approvals should work*

Why it matters: the first official sign of how the cap will be worked out.

17 November · Parliament looks at NSFAS's annual report and audit

Why it matters: NSFAS's latest audit result has not been released. Last year the auditors could not give an opinion at all.

19 November · Reserve Bank interest rate decision

Why it matters: rates went up in September, and the Bank expects inflation above 5% into early 2027. Another increase would raise the cost of any property loan.

25 November · Parliament's higher education committee meets NSFAS on readiness for 2027

Why it matters: the Minister and NSFAS on record about 2027 accommodation, a month before move-in planning ends.

By end November · Final court hearing on who runs NSFAS, and the Minister's report to Parliament, including a review of the cap

Why it matters: decides who is in charge of NSFAS while 2027 leases are signed.

30 November · Deadline to claim unpaid 2026 accommodation, and NSFAS's first 2027 funding decisions*

Why it matters: your last clean chance to recover 2026 money, and your first view of which 2027 students are funded.

Early December · Parliament's inquiry into student accommodation

Why it matters: Parliament's own look at the cap, approvals and NSFAS's portal contracts.

Mid-December · Final 2026 catch-up payment*

Why it matters: the payment that settles whatever you claimed by 30 November.

10 to 24 December, then 11 January · 2027 funding appeals, then the list of funded students goes to universities*

Why it matters: tells you when you can confirm January move-ins as funded.

January 2027 · 2027 accommodation policy, according to the Minister's written answer to Parliament

Why it matters: the real deadline if November slips.

February to May 2027 · NSFAS approvals issued in early 2024 reach three years

Why it matters: see section 2. Nothing has been published about renewal.

* Rests on a single report or an unconfirmed document.

5. FILED AWAY

From the room

8th Annual Affordable Student Housing Summit, 28 and 29 October 2026: addresses by Deputy Minister Yusuf Cassim (28 October) and NSFAS student housing officials (29 October), from my own recordings

Government and NSFAS

Minister of Higher Education, written reply to Parliamentary question NW3575, 14 October 2026 (PMG)

NSFAS Act 56 of 1999, section 4(b)

DHET Bursary Scheme guidelines (as approved by the Minister)

NSFAS Notice No. 11 of 2026, as reported by the George Herald, 9 September 2026

NSFAS presentation to Parliament on the 2023 accommodation cap, 22 March 2023 (PMG)

Nzimande approves NSFAS eligibility criteria, SAnews, 7 February 2024

DBSA media release on TUT student housing funding, 9 October 2026

National Treasury, Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, 21 October 2026

National Treasury, 2026 Budget Review, Chapter 5 (Table 5.5), February 2026

SAnews, Government identifies R38.1 billion in medium-term savings, 21 October 2026

The Citizen, Budget 2026: NSFAS faces billions-rand funding cut, 26 February 2026

NEHAWU statement on the 2026 MTBPS, 22 October 2026

South African Reserve Bank, Monetary Policy Statement, 23 September 2026

Statistics South Africa, Consumer Price Index, September 2026 (released 21 October 2026)

Parliament

Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, colloquium on student accommodation, 28 August 2026, including the ENS Africa legal review presented by NSFAS (PMG)

Portfolio Committee report on the colloquium, 23 September 2026 (PMG)

Parliamentary schedule for November 2026 (PMG)

Courts and regulators

Sakeliga v Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority, Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, 8 September 2026, as summarised by Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, 20 October 2026

PPRA public notice on 2027 Fidelity Fund Certificate renewals, 3 June 2026

NERSA, Multi-Year Price Determination methodology

Universities

University of Fort Hare, tender for 2,529 accredited beds in East London, 2026

Tshwane University of Technology, tender TR 45-2026 (closes 3 November 2026)

Durban University of Technology, RFI-DUT-004 and RFI-DUT-005 (Hertine Court and Baltimore), August 2026

University of the Free State, Estates tender register, accessed 28 October 2026

News reports (single-source items are marked in the text)

The Citizen, NSFAS sets October deadline for 2027 accommodation rules, 23 September 2026

GroundUp, students bear the brunt of the accommodation funding cap, 28 August 2026

Daily Maverick, NSFAS says student debt not its fault, 11 August 2026

Daily Maverick, price gouging the reason for NSFAS student housing caps, 23 February 2023

Daily Maverick, court orders Manamela to reinstate NSFAS board, 14 August 2026

TimesLIVE, NSFAS acting CEO appointed as RAF CEO, 1 October 2026

ECR, Richardt Ramashia named interim chair of NSFAS board, 12 September 2026

The Citizen, Eskom's 2027 tariff request, October 2026

Property Professional, rental growth by province, 28 September 2026

Corrections to Issue 03

Adv Richardt Ramashia was named interim chair of the NSFAS board on 11 or 12 September, not at the 18 September launch of applications.

The report due to Parliament by mid-November is a Department of Higher Education report, not a joint report with NSFAS.

The estimate that NSFAS's shortfall could reach R33 billion by 2029 comes from National Treasury, quoted by the Minister, not from the Minister himself.

Issue 03 suggested that the Central University of Technology was due to open a 2027 call for new landlords. It is not. CUT has said it has more beds than it needs and is not approving new properties.

That is a wrap for the month.

If something in here affects one of your properties and you want to talk it through, write to [email protected]. My team reads every message and brings the ones that need me to me. What you send shapes what I go and find out next month.

Retha

ALSO FROM ME

The MSH Student Accommodation Monitor 2026, free.

Student Accommodation in South Africa: The Investor's Guide. Buying, accrediting, filling and running student accommodation. Print R495 with delivery, or eBook.

NSFAS Accreditation Masterclass. The recordings of both evenings are on the website.

One hour on one property, your numbers, a direct answer.

The NSFAS Readiness Scorecard, free, seven questions, about two minutes.