South African estates are offering more affordable properties, greener surroundings and a broader range of services and amenities. The idea of living on an estate is also appealing to a broader range of South Africans, but estates themselves are changing.
A Pam Golding Properties analyst told Property24 in 2023 that 16.4% of all residential sales in South Africa in the previous year were for properties in estates. The figure for 2010 was 13.1%.
Property research company Lightstone has put the number of estates in South Africa at 5 000, encompassing about 440 000 properties. This is only 7% of the country’s property portfolio but represents about 17% of the total market value of residential property.
The Covid-19 epidemic is part of the reason for the uptick in numbers and the rise in remote working is a related factor but there are other considerations: the attractions of a coastal lifestyle compared to inland living and increasing demands for security among them.
The Developer of Serenity Hills on the KZN South Coast, Reece Daniel, has outlined five key of security which should be present on a modern estate: biometric access, camera surveillance, electrified perimeter fencing and community engagement.
On the last issue, Daniel says, “A gated estate should not cut the residents off from the surrounding community. Fostering good relations with everyone in the area builds better long-term security. Estates that support local communities with job creation are also contributing to the local economy while diminishing the threat of criminal activities.”
Three other shifts are noteworthy:
- the importance of wildlife and nature in new estates
- the broader scope of affordable options available
- the widening of the concept of estate living to include “precincts”
Natural attractions
New World Wealth’s analysis of trends in estates in 2021 noted a “general movement away from traditional golf estates and towards wildlife and parkland estates” and stated that clustering of housing was becoming commonplace in order to allow for more open space on the estate as a whole.
Something else noted by this survey was that the percentage of millionaires living in (or having a second home on) estates was on the rise, up from 30% in 2010 to 48% at the time of the survey, June 2021.
Adrian Gardiner, founder of the Mantis Collection, says of the St Francis Links estate, inside of which his company has recently developed the St Francis Links Villas, “The birdlife and the wildlife make St Francis unique.”
The first page of the website of KwaZulu-Natal’s Zimbali Estate references a “natural and contemporary coastal forest estate”, “eco-friendly”, “caring for the environment” and “our wildlife, our birdlife and our incredible flora”.
Affordable options
Lightstone regularly releases graphs showing trends in the property market. The average price for an estate property in 2003 was close to R3-million. That figure averaged just less than R2-million in the four years to 2022. The St Francis Links Villas in the Eastern Cape is a typical new development in that it includes free-standing houses but also one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Newer estates are also allowing for smaller plots and a greater mix of more affordable houses to be built. This might be within a particular section or “suburb” of the estate, as with the St Francis Links Villas option, which is a development within the estate. Residents of the Villas have some of their own amenities (like healthcare) but they also have access to the clubhouse and gym of the main estate.
From an estate to a precinct
A new trend in estate living is the move to precincts. Essentially this is the extension of the concept of a secure estate to encompass more elements: residential, commercial, educational, medical and recreational.
In short, a town within a city with a residential estate occurring within the precinct. This is an extension of the idea of having a hotel or lodge within the estate, as is the case at Zimbali. The idea of a precinct goes beyond holidaying and recreation to encompass work and play. Gideon van der Vyver, the developer of the Riverfields Precinct in Gauteng, says that the focus is on safety, sustainability and community.
Calling the new entities “managed precincts”, Van der Vyver points to the success of the Umhlanga Urban Improvement Precinct (UUIP) which was established in 2015. He credits the UUIP with reducing crime, improving street cleanliness and creating a more welcoming environment. Other examples he cites from around South Africa are Waterfall City (between Johannesburg and Pretoria), Melrose Arch and Steyn City in Johannesburg, the V&A Waterfront and Century City in Cape Town and Menlyn Maine in Pretoria.
Riverfields, which is near the OR Tambo International Airport, has so far delivered more than 1 000 residential units, a retail node is functioning and a number of logistics and distribution centres have been created in the light industrial zone.
While the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast has long been a site for golf and residential estates, many destinations south of Durban are proving attractive options for people choosing estate living. One of the most ambitious of these is the 1 300-acre Renishaw Coastal Precinct on the Mid-South Coast near Scottburgh. The development is backed by Renishaw Property Developments, a subsidiary of the JSE-listed Crookes Brothers Limited, and its property partner, Crocker Properties.
Renishaw Hills, a retirement estate, has been in place for some time and five phases have been sold out. Every property has been positioned to maximise the views of the surrounding coastal forest and Indian Ocean. The precinct will eventually comprise zones for residential, retail, educational and healthcare. In keeping with the latest trend, the developers will build on just 20% of the land, creating a conservation area of real substance.
Van der Vyver sums up the positive impact a managed precinct can have as follows: “They attract businesses, tourism and investment, which leads to job creation and increased economic activity. The presence of commercial spaces and retail outlets also generates revenue for the local government through taxes and fees.”
