The deposit amount will be stipulated in the lease agreement and can be anywhere from one to two or even three month's rent. The landlord must place the money in an interest-bearing account and must refund the tenant at the end of their tenancy no later than 14 days.

On the anniversary of the lease, the landlord and tenant typically decide upon two things: whether to agree to a renewal and secondly what escalation will apply. An industry standard seems to be 10% per annum, but the landlord may decide to forego the increase or to increase this more or less than 10% to ensure the rental is market-related.

Landlords cannot simply evict their tenant for a late payment, as they're protected by the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, No. 19 of 1998 (PIE Act). However, continued failure to pay your rent on time puts you in breach of contract and can lead to your eventual eviction.

Normally, you will have to wait until your lease expires and issue notice that you will not be renewing the lease. The notice period will be stipulated in the rental agreement in the form of a renewal clause. If you want to terminate the lease before it has run its course, you may be held liable for breach of contract unless you follow the right steps and give the right amount of notice.