A suburb once known as a refuge for Randlords is becoming increasingly vulnerable as absentee ownership, lack of service delivery and weak municipal enforcement take their toll.

Lower Houghton, home to four properties associated with Nelson Mandela and long a symbol of exclusivity, is showing signs of structural decline.

About 50 properties -- in a suburb of roughly 3,000 homes -- are now vacant, neglected or otherwise vulnerable.

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Absentee ownership, abandoned properties, little or no service delivery, delayed town planning decisions and weak municipal enforcement are contributing to this, according to residents.

The shift is not widespread yet, but it is no longer isolated. Residents say the properties are beginning to cluster, creating pockets of overgrowth, limited oversight and increased exposure to vagrancy and opportunistic occupation.

Amanda Fleming, chairperson of the Lower Houghton Residents Association, says the concern is about what is already happening nearby in Upper Houghton, where once-stable homes have been converted into high-density rentals, with three large state-owned properties having fallen into disrepair -- patterns that followed similar delays in enforcement and oversight.

Lower Houghton, they warn, is not there yet, but the early indicators are comparable.

Large residential stands, once a defining feature, are increasingly sitting idle -- tied up in estates, held by absentee owners, abandoned by owners who have relocated or downsized, or sold for redevelopment that is delayed by objections...