ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the phenomenon of squatter renting in Fiji, and in particular the subletting of rooms within squatter households. It seeks to gauge the extent of the practice, and the value which it has to those involved. The chapter demonstrates whether or not it is poverty which is forcing people to squat in increasing numbers and to sublet rooms in squatter settlements. It aims to the value of rental income and the importance attached to it by both landlords and tenants. Although Walsh was not specifically studying landlords and the value to them of rental income, he did not find that squatters had substantial amounts of surplus income, although they did have the desire to improve their situation. The tenants and subtenants in the Muslim League settlement of Suva may be almost identical to their landlords in employment status, but they do differ in race, and they are slightly younger and more recent arrivals to the settlement.
