(Gallo Images)
(Gallo Images)
Fancy yourself as a bit of a handyperson? Well, that could be a very costly or affordable past-time, depending on where you live. If you want to build a house in South Africa, you’ve got to know what you’re dealing with.
For example, it could end up costing you almost twice as much to build a new development in KZN than it would in North West. The two provinces are at opposite ends of the scale when it comes to forking out for the raw materials needed to make yourself a home.
Not only that, but the recent StatsSA release – which was also dissected by BusinessTech – looked into the cost of manual labour and the availability of equipment in relation to the province. As it turns out, heading towards the north-west might be the most profitable option.
Cheapest places to build a house in South Africa:
North West
What better way to start our journey to the north-west, than by looking at… North West. Building costs amount to roughly R10 130 per square metre (psm).
The average size of a house in South Africa comes in at 146 square metres. You could build one in NW for
R1.478 million. A smaller “sectional title unit” (“STU”, which is essentially an apartment ) averages a 90-square-metre area. In theory, you could build one for R911 000.
Limpopo
Second on our list is Limpopo, with its buildings costing approximately R10 550 psm. It runs North West close, but can’t beat the low costs of labour and materials.
Up in the most northerly region of Mzansi, the average cost of building a house would come to R1.54 million. If you were to build an STU, it could be done on a budget of R949 500.
Mpumalanga
The last cheapie on this brief list is Mpumalanga. That clocks a price of R11 390 psm – it’s still a respectable total, but struggles to compete with the low costs of the two aforementioned provinces.
To build an average-sized house here, you’re looking at spending at R1.662 million. For a 90-metre unit, that figure comes in at R1.025 million.
Most expensive places to build a house in
South Africa:
KwaZulu-Natal
Here we are – the hall of shame. It costs R19 230 psm to knock-up a dwelling here. We mentioned earlier that the combined costs of building in KZN come to twice the amount of what you’d pay in North West. These figures will seem eye-watering in comparison.
Using our 146-metre guidelines, building a house in KwaZulu-Natal averages a cost of R2.8 million. Meanwhile, a smaller unit could be constructed on a budget of R1.73 million. Get your chequebooks out.
Gauteng
At R15 730 psm, Gauteng is a bit of a bank-breaker as well. It’s about 20% cheaper than building in KwaZulu-Natal, but it still remains the second most expensive place on the list.
Building a house? That’ll average out to R2.296 million. Something smaller? You’ll need R1.415 million.
Western Cape
Many thought the Cape would be the main offender and the biggest spender here, but it was pipped to the post by KZN and Gauteng. Cape Town is somewhat famous for its exorbitant living costs, and these numbers won’t do much to change that perception.
At R14 050 psm, a standard house-build would come to R2.05 million. Developing a sectional title unit would set a builder back by R1.264 million. Why can’t you guys be more like North West? (The province, that is, rather the child of Kim K and Kanye.)
