Private rental markets accommodate a significant share of Africa’s rapidly growing urban populations. The vast majority of tenants are accommodated in rental housing supplied by private landlords. Few studies offer insights on the dynamics and logics shaping the supply and production of private rental housing in the context of African cities. This paper contributes to fill this remarkable knowledge gap with a study of the supply and production of private rental housing by self-builder households in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, two of the largest and fastest growing cities in Tanzania. This paper examines the motivations and aspirations of self-builder landlords, the type and quality of rental housing they supply and the logics shaping their investments in housing quality and tenants’ access to services. The paper argues that housing policies should acknowledge the significance of private rental housing in accommodating growing urban populations and the contribution of small landlords, such as the self-builders in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, in the supply and production of private rental housing. Furthermore, any policies seeking to increase the availability and quality of affordable rental housing should be informed by in-depth understanding of the perspectives of such landlords. While concerns regarding lack of protection of tenants’ rights and sub-standard accommodation are often justified, great care is needed, as policies promoting tenants’ rights or enforcing minimum standards could undermine the supply of new rental housing or make rents wholly unaffordable for the poorest tenants.

私人租赁市场在非洲快速增长的城市人口中占有很大份额。绝大多数租户居住在私人房东提供的出租房屋中。很少有研究提供关于在非洲城市背景下影响私人租赁住房供应和生产的动力和逻辑的见解。本文通过研究达累斯萨拉姆和姆万扎这两个坦桑尼亚最大和发展最快的城市的自建房屋的供应和生产，填补了这一巨大的知识空白。本文研究了自建房东的动机和愿望，他们提供的租赁住房的类型和质量以及影响其对住房质量和租户获得服务投资的逻辑。该论文认为，住房政策应承认私人出租住房在适应不断增长的城市人口方面的重要性，以及小型房东（如达累斯萨拉姆和姆万扎的自建房主）对私人出租住房的供应和生产的贡献。此外，任何寻求增加负担得起的租赁住房的数量和质量的政策都应通过对此类房东的观点的深入了解来提供。尽管通常有理由担心缺乏保护住户权利和不合标准的住所，但仍需格外小心，因为促进住户权利或执行最低标准的政策可能会破坏新出租房屋的供应，或使最贫穷的人完全无法负担租金租户。