Estate Living: SA’s community complex boom

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For more than a decade, the gated community industry has been experiencing an unprecedented growth rate.  Research done by the Association of Residential Communities (ARC), in South Africa shows the following about estate living

• There are over 1.9 million homes in gated complexes

• Over 5 million people reside in gated complexes

• There are over 3 000 Homeowners Associations (HOAs)

• The industry has in excess of R 800 billion assets under management, and

• R11 billion in annual levies are collected.

In addition, gated complexes take up around 9% of South Africa’s developed property, which translates to a total property value of as much as 27% of all our residential land. As opposed to traditional ways of living, a community scheme is such a preferred choice because of its numerous practical, cost-saving and security benefits. In short, for more and more of our citizens the advantages of a sharing-economy-model fits well with the modern lifestyle.

Safety and security of estate living

Safety and security has for many South Africans become a first-level priority – currently our private security industry is the fourth largest in the world per capita. Our citizens are now spending as much as R45-billion annually to safeguard their lives, assets, homes and businesses (which is a staggering third more than the government spent on our police force in 2016).

With crime having such an impact across all sectors, it’s surprising that our recorded rates of house burglaries are on a steady decline. Currently they’re a third lower than they were 15 years ago. A big part of the reason is because many are opting for estate living and its immediate security benefits.

For new families it’s especially appealing. In complexes children are simply safer on the street – parents can let them play outside, ride their bikes, and visit friends down the road. As long as the state keeps failing in its most fundamental duty to society – safeguarding its citizens in an increasingly unsafe environment – community complexes will attract South Africans across the income spectrum.

Lifestyle estates take things much further of course. Besides the communal pool with clubhouse and kids’ play area, many are home to golf courses, spas and wellness centres, business centres and gymnasiums. Some these days even boast on-site convenience stores, libraries, coffee shops, and shuttle services.  They generally offer more peace and quiet, unlike residential areas where unnecessary traffic adds to noise pollution, complex rules and regulations are there to insulate residents who prefer estate living

Maintenance

The everyday maintenance and management of community complexes are mostly taken care of by their body corporates or HOAs. Some of the services include gardening and landscaping, refuse removal, as well as wall, roof, road and paving maintenance.

Sense of community and estate living

Gated schemes generally have closer knit communities which make their residents feel less isolated.

Some do however argue that in South African complexes there lacks a sense of community compared with elsewhere in the world. However, this is reflective of the larger South African reality, where a deeper communality is missing in our diverse national fabric. By all appearances this might be changing in community set-ups, with a spirit of solidarity becoming more prevalent over the last few years.

Today, it’s quite common for communities to form WhatsApp or Facebook groups or to create online community pages. If there was a break-in, or an attempt to poison someone’s dog, or a neighbour playing music too loud after hours, or a noisy domestic altercation, the problem is often dealt with internally through the security company, and supported by bulk SMS or email notifications. (Simply creating awareness actually goes a long way toward solving issues in a complex.)

Property value

Studies have further shown that units located within a gated community tend to depreciate less compared to types of housing exposed directly to urban environments and changes in their make-up. It’s almost as if that wall cocooning a complex also acts as economy buffer to the outside world. If, for instance, there’s a new industrial development in the area (or anything else unsightly) it will affect the property value of complex units less as opposed to that of freestanding houses.

Estate living is a lifestyle choice

Some sceptics might find it odd that South Africans are once again allowing walls to be erected between the less fortunate and those who are privileged. Yet, they’re missing the point of estate living.

Whilst in essence gated complexes do represent a form of segregation based on income, their current boom also underlines the growing popularity of a convenient lifestyle within easy reach of amenities and main transport routes – that is, a secure lifestyle built on the pillars of work and school, play and shop. Seen from this perspective, South Africa is simply following a global trend in which citizens seek a broker between themselves and the unsympathetic, grim demeanour of their dangerous cities.

For more information on the CSOS and how it can assist residents of gated complexes, see www.csos.org.za.  To see the latest issue of the CSOS newsletter about estate living, see http://csos.org.za/newsletter.html.

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