Reall has operated in South Africa since 1993, and pursued our more commercial approach since 2014.

Between 1994 and 2017, almost 3m homes were built for low income households as part of a massive government-subsidised programme aimed at providing decent shelter, increasing home ownership and reversing the spatial divisions which are a legacy of apartheid. However, housing affordability remains a critical challenge. In 2018, the cheapest newly built house from a private developer was only affordable to 34% of urban households. Massive potential exists in the lower end of the housing market, combined with improved access to finance.

Reall partnered with The Kuyasa Finance Company, which was unique in the Reall network in that it focused exclusively on providing home improvement loans, of which over 35,000 were extended since the organisation’s inception. Typically, loans were used to extend existing homes, or for improvements such as security, sanitation, and repairs to flooring and roofing. Kuyasa’s clients were unusual in that the majority were pensioners and female, and as such particularly vulnerable.

In 2019, Reall began the process of transitioning out of South Africa to better focus on priority countries.