Are landlords required by law to buy generators for their tenants?

Load shedding is currently wreaking havoc in South Africa and is the pain of many people’s existence. The continuous power interruptions mean that we can’t watch our favourite programs, are having to miss out on work and some of our priciest appliances are taking big hits. Needless to say, hours and hours with no power have brought many South Africans to a new level of desperation – some tenants have even started wondering if not they are entitled to a generator or inverter from their landlords.

Are tenants entitled to generators from landlords?

Are you living in a rental and trying to find out whether or not you should be enjoying the benefits of a generator courtesy of your landlord?

Well, we’ve got some unfortunate news for you.

Landlords are in fact not responsible for keeping your lights on during South Africa’s various levels of annoying load shedding.

“The first thing that tenants need to understand about load shedding and water restrictions or water cuts is that these are not due to the landlord’s fault.

“As a result, tenants can’t request a rental remission from their landlord. Neither are landlords legally obliged to provide generators, inverters, or water tanks,” reveals an IOL article regarding the matter.

Installing a generator and a water tank on their rental property might not be the worse idea for landlords especially if they are trying to pump up their rent prices and add value to their property.

In fact, rental units with backup power supplies are basically flying off the market in Cape Town CBD, 2OceansVibe reports.

ALSO READ: ‘Fed-up with load shedding’: South Africans voice their frustration

The other side of things

Since you’ve learned that landlords are not actually responsible for installing generators on their rental property, you could always add one yourself.

Just remember to iron out the final details with your landlord before doing so or you might have to leave your pricey generator or water tank behind if and when you decide to move out.

With that said, do you think landlords SHOULD be held responsible for generators on their property? Let us know in the comment section below this article.