The essence of estate living in South Africa is the desire to be safer in a tranquil environment, where a balanced lifestyle can flourish, and you can enjoy quality family life.

• Security, Safety, and Privacy:

  – We live in a risk society. Safety is rated as the most important spatial experience. It is the threat of harm to our families and the theft of our property that is the driving force for finding security solutions designed according to the specific needs of the community.

For a residential street to provide a safe place for walking and social interaction, residential estates place a big emphasis on traffic calming. It follows that limited traffic and slower speeds make estate roads safer. In April 2019, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that private residential estates are legally entitled to enforce the rules relating to speed limits on the roads within the estate.

Where pets are allowed there are strict conditions and owners of pets considered to be a nuisance are required to take specified action or remove the animal. You should therefore not have to deal with your neighbour’s aggressive dog or suffer the consequences of a vicious dog attack.

In an ever more connected world with an estimated population of almost eight billion, privacy is the greatest luxury. With forbidden access for non-residents (visitors must get your permission to enter the estate), gated communities provide privacy for residents. Soliciting is not allowed and the only people likely to bother you at your front door are other residents’ kids, selling cookies for a school charity.

The desire of communities to live a crime-free lifestyle in a secure environment, calls for a structured approach to security. The synergy of all the security components ensures an efficient security solution, and with lowering crime rates private neighbourhoods under high protection, the smart secure estates of the future, has become the preferred way to develop residential property, providing residents with the relaxed lifestyle that they expect.

• Lifestyle is a Choice:

  The attitude towards housing – where we live, is a lifestyle that is connected to social class.

Estate living offers residents a feeling of exclusivity, the way of living in an aesthetically pleasing environment with a distinct collective architectural identity. Properties in organised residential communities are carefully maintained and exterior improvements respect very precise specifications, ensuring that the aesthetic beauty of the space is never out of place.

Residential estates are designed around a specific lifestyle. Golf, equestrian and marina estates offer luxurious leisure facilities. Not surprisingly living in these communities can be living the dream. People desire to connect, interact, and belong to nature. In eco estates families have access to landscaped parks, or open spaces with nature trails, rich in plant and bird life, enabling children the freedom to enjoy their upbringing, to interact and play, within a healthy nature-aware environment.

• A Sense of Community:

  – The emerging shared living industry provides attractive spatial experiences in a purposefully built environment that enable residents to achieve their goals and engage with their neighbourhood. In the newer developments, small neighbourhoods are created within the larger estate, allowing for some diversity in the community.

The critical elements of a healthy neighbourhood enhance connectivity and pedestrian circulation. A small court, well-appointed street or plaza surrounded by front entrances and porches, create a sense of place, and encourage interaction between residents.

The essential amenities – everything you need for sustainable living, from a shopping mall to a healthcare facility and entertainment hubs, are available either inside, or conveniently close to high-end residential communities. Social gathering amenities, such as open green spaces that can accommodate community functions, or a clubhouse with a bar and restaurant, where you can meet likely minded people, and host family events uninterrupted, further enhance community life.

“It is quite simple, we all deeply seek connection and community, and more of it in our lives. “We want to hang out and linger in places that make us feel good and where people are.” Carla Guerrera, CEO of Purpose Driven Development.

• Recreational and Sport Facilities:

  – That is, providing activities for the whole family that are limited to the exclusive use of residents, without the need to leave the neighbourhood.

Enclosed community developments with the greatest possible living potential would feature superior recreational and sport facilities. This may include a children’s outdoor play area, an in-house gym, communal pool, health spa, squash, and tennis courts, cycling and jogging paths, stables and riding trails, an on-site golf course or a private marina.

• Gated Communities as an Investment Opportunity:

  – You are investing in a lifestyle and not just a property. The private governance structure is pivotal as the return on investment not only depends on the saleability of your home, but also the management quality of the Homeowners’ Association (HOA). Levies are a function of the costs to provide and maintain the essential services, amenities, and activities. Where this can be cost effectively achieved the synergistic effect will be positive. Strong communities and well-developed neighbourhoods encourage place making, increasing the real estate value of all the properties in the neighbourhood.

Due to the current global economic decline and prolonged electricity interruptions, economic growth in South Africa faces increased risk. A major benefit of living in a residential community is the higher level of property value, property quality and demand. The limited offer and exclusivity make houses in gated communities more expensive to buy than equivalent properties in non-gated neighbourhoods, and in general, the prices of houses in gated communities also tend to be less volatile and hence a better investment option during challenging times.

I invite residents from the residential estates listed below (some of which are still in a developing phase), to send me their experience of living in their residential community. You can be an immense help for potential owners towards making better decisions.

THE ESTATES