Impact of proximity to cell phone tower base stations on residential property prices in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa

• Date: 01 May 2024
• Pages: 1422-1442
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-12-2023-0167
• Published date: 01 May 2024
• Subject Matter: Property management & built environment,Real estate & property,Housing markets
• Author: Koech Cheruiyot,Nosipho Mavundla,Mncedisi Siteleki,Ezekiel Lengaram

Impact of proximity to cell phone

tower base stations on residential

property prices in the City of

Johannesburg, South Africa

Koech Cheruiyot,Nosipho Mavundla,Mncedisi Siteleki and

Ezekiel Lengaram

School of Construction Economics and Management, University of the Witwatersrand,

Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract

Purpose –With revolutions in the telecommunication sector having led to wide unprecedented

consequencesin all facets of human life, this paper aims to examine the relationship betweencell phone tower

base stations(CPTBSs) and residential property priceswithin the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), SouthAfrica.

Design/methodology/approach –The authors align their work withglobal literature and assess how

the impact of CPTBSs inf‌luences residential property values in South Africa. The authors use a semi-log

hedonic pricing model to test the hypothesis that proximity of CPTBSs to residential properties does not

accountfor any variationin residential property prices.

Findings –The results show a signif‌icantimpact that proximity of CPTBS has on residential property sale

prices. However, the impact of CTPBSs’proximityon residential property prices depends on their distance

from the residential properties.The closer a residential property is to the CTPBS, the greater the impact that

the CTPBS willhave on the selling price of the residential property.

Originality/value –With international studies offering mixed f‌indings on the impact of CPTBSs on

residential property values, there is limited research on their impact in South Africa. The f‌indings of this

study offer crucial insights for the real estatepractitioners, property owners, telecommunications companies

and the public, providinga nuanced understanding of the relationship between CPTBSs and propertyvalues.

This research helps property owners understand the effects of CPTBSs on their properties, and it assists

propertyvaluers in gauging the impact of CPTBSs on property values.

Keywords South Africa, Impact, Proximity, City of Johannesburg, Cell phone tower base station,

Residential property prices

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

The surge in cell phone demand has triggered an unprecedented rise in network connectivity, thus

leading to a growth of cell phone tower base stations (CPTBSs) globally (Locke and Blomquist,

2016). These CPTBSs, facilitating wireless communication for mobile devices, are integral to the

© Koech Cheruiyot, Nosipho Mavundla, Mncedisi Siteleki and Ezekiel Lengaram. Published by

Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is pu blished under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both

commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors.

The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

This paper forms part of a special section “Spatial analysis and housing markets”, guest edited by

Koech Cheruiyot.

IJHMA

17,6

1422

Received3 December 2023

Revised7 March 2024

Accepted18 March 2024

InternationalJournal of Housing

Marketsand Analysis

Vol.17 No. 6, 2024

pp. 1422-1442

EmeraldPublishing Limited

1753-8270

DOI 10.1108/IJHMA-12-2023-0167

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8270.htm

transmission of information through ultra-frequency radio waves (Bond and Wang, 2005). In South

Africa, the implementation of the 1996 Telecommunication Act marked a signif‌icant shift that

opened opportunities for new mobile network operators (MNOs) to enter the South African market

(Makhaya and Roberts, 2003). This inf‌luxof MNOs sparked the expansion of CPTBS infrastructure

across the country (GSMA, 2014). This expansion of CPTBS infrastructure has raised questions

regarding its impact on residential property prices and densities, particularly in South Africa.

Surprisingly, despite the critical role of CPTBSs in communication, there is limited literature

exploring this dynamic in South Africa. Internationally, studies have analyzed the effect of

CPTBSs on residential property prices, revealing divergent outcomes. For instance, Bond

(2007a,2007b) found a 15% decrease in property prices within a 300-m radius of CPTBSs in

New Zealand, contrasting with Smaqae and Anwar (2022) discovery of a positive impact on

property prices in Erbil, Iraq. In the USA, studies by Affuso et al. (2018) and Bond and Squires

(2007) reported property value decreases within certain proximities to CPTBSs, while Olukolajo

et al. (2013) in Nigeria observed varied impacts across different neighborhood densities.

The scarcity of South African-specif‌ic research on this subject and the limited

exploration of CPTBS effects on various residential densities necessitates a comprehensive

investigation. Hence, this study aims to f‌ill this void by examining the impact of CPTBS

proximity on residential propertyprices within the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). It also seeks

to assess if the f‌indings align with existing international literature, thereby contributing

valuable insights to this f‌ield. Drawing from prior studies’recommendations, this research

will evaluate the impact of the proximity of CPTBSson property prices in South Africa. By

undertaking this study, we aim to bridge the gap in literature, providing localized insights

into the relationshipbetween CPTBSs and residential property values.

It is from this backdropthat this study tests the following hypotheses:

H0. The proximity of CPTBSs to residential properties does not account for any

variation in residentialproperty prices.

H1. The proximity of CPTBSs to residential properties does account for a variation in

residential propertyprices.

These hypotheses form the foundation for examining the nuanced relationship between CPTBS

proximity and residential property values, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding

of this dynamic in the context of CoJ, South Africa. This study’sf‌indings will help property

owners who have telecommunication towers on their properties, owners of neighboring

properties, telecommunication companies and the public to understand the implications of

having a telecommunication tower on or near their properties. The research f‌indings will raise

property owners’consciousness with regard to the CPTBSs’effects and receive improved

compensation when there is a loss in their properties’values. It can also be advantageous for

property valuators to understand the impact of telecommunication towers on properties.

After the introduction, this paper is structured as follows: Section 2 dwells on related literature

on the telecommunication sector, telecommunication infrastructure, what inf‌luences the residential

property market, theoretical framework and the specif‌ic impacts of CPTBSs on residential

property prices. Section 3 focuses on data and methods, while Section 4 dwells on presentation and

discussion of results. Section 5 offers concluding remarks and possible areas of future research.

2. Literature review

2.1 The history of telecommunication sector: an overview

The advent of telecommunication in 1870 and the innovation of new information and

communications technologies (ICTs), such as the internet in 1980s, changed the traditional

Impact of

proximity

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