Young women struggle with property credit access: understanding the challenges

Young women face a compounded disadvantage in accessing credit, particularly for property. 

They contend with the general struggles of youth in the credit market, combined with the existing gender disparities in secured lending, says Jaco van Jaarsveldt, the Head of Commercial Strategy & Innovation at Experian said in response to an "Independent Media Property" enquiry.

“This likely means they fare worse than both young men and older women in property purchasing credit. This impacts the local economy by delaying household formation and consumption, reducing investment in local communities and stifling entrepreneurship due to a lack of collateral.

"Furthermore, it could lead to a brain drain, if talented young women seek opportunities elsewhere, impacting the local talent pool and economic dynamism,” Van Jaarsveldt said. 

The business services company said women have disproportionately lower access to credit for purchasing property, particularly home loans, despite secured credit making up a large portion of total outstanding debt.

It said that while their representation in home loans has seen a meaningful increase over the last five years (from 36.2% to 38%), it still lags behind their male counterparts.

“This is problematic as property ownership is a key pathway to wealth creation, financial stability, and economic empowerment, including serving as collateral for business ventures. Limiting this access for women restricts their ability to build equity and has broader societal implications.” 

Experian’s Q1 2025 CDI reveals a nuanced picture of women’s access to credit in South Africa.

The company said that while women comprise slightly over half of the adult population, they remain underrepresented in the credit economy from an exposure perspective.

In June 2025, women were associated with only R0.61 trillion (approximately 26%) of the total R2.31 trillion in outstanding debt. It said this indicates that while many women are credit active, the volume of credit they access is disproportionately lower than their male counterparts.

Compared to the previous year (2024), the report notes a significant positive shift. In 2024, for the first time, the Composite CDI for women exceeded that of the total market, indicating increased financial stress.

However, in 2025, women’s CDI improved and once again sits below the total market CDI.

“This signals a return to more stable repayment behaviour and reflects women’s resilience in adapting to the evolving credit landscape. Compared to the previous 5 and 10 years, women’s exposure to credit (from a consumer volume perspective) has shown a slight increase over the last 5 years.

"This positive trend is observed across most individual credit products, except for personal loans, where women have seen a slight reduction in representation.”

Encouragingly, Van Jaarsveldt said female representation for secured credit has increased meaningfully over the last 5 years, with home loans representation moving from 36.2% to 38% and vehicle finance increasing from 41.3% to 44.4%.

Retail loans representation continues along an upward trend. Historically, he said, women have generally been in a more favourable position than men, with a Composite CDI consistently below the total market, reflecting cautious borrowing and disciplined credit management.

Experian said the underrepresentation of women in South Africa’s credit economy, particularly in higher-value secured loans, is attributed to socio-economic factors like lower earnings and caregiving roles, and a product distribution that sees women more active in lower-value retail loans.

The company said historical lending biases may also play a role.

“This situation is fixable through a multi-faceted approach. It requires leveraging alternative data for a more holistic view of creditworthiness, developing tailored financial products that meet women’s specific needs, and investing in financial literacy and empowerment programmes."

Crucially, Van Jaarsveldt said collaborative efforts between credit providers, fintechs, and the government are essential to address systemic biases and foster equitable access. 

He said failure to address the disparities in credit access for women will have significant negative impacts on South Africa’s economy. “It will hinder overall economic growth by stifling women’s entrepreneurial potential and limiting their ability to invest in assets and participate fully in the economy.

"This exacerbates existing socio-economic inequalities, leads to underutilised human capital, and reduces the financial resilience of a significant portion of the population, ultimately making the economy more vulnerable and less dynamic,” Van Jaarsveldt said. 

In June, Tsekiso Machike, the spokesperson to the Department of Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane, said if South Africa's youth remain largely excluded from homeownership, property development, and property investment, the impacts will be far-reaching, undermining not just the property sector, but also the broader economic and social development goals of the country.

He said property is a major tool for intergenerational wealth creation, and if the youth don’t participate in the purchasing of homes or invest early, they will miss out on capital gains, equity building, and passive rental income.

“Thus, entrenching economic inequality, leaving youth more vulnerable to poverty, housing insecurity, and financial instability,” Machike said then. 

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