WIN!
Join our Facebook Group
to enter our monthly draw

Ask the experts

Q

IAN AND ISABELLE MATHESON ASK: We are considering buying our first home in the relatively affordable Penzance Estate area of Hout Bay, which we love. We have a baby daughter, and would like to bring her up in a natural, healthy environment. But we have received conflicting advice about investing in this area. On the one hand, estate agents forecast an ‘explosion’ in property prices, and mention the soon-to-be-built International School nearby. Residents, however, raise security concerns and point to the encroaching Imizamo Yethu township. Can you provide us with some honest, unbiased advice? 

A

BERNIE STAUB AND GRANT ATTERIDGE REPLY: Penzance Estate is clearly the entry-level area of Hout Bay for houses and therefore it is popular with professional couples and young families. The property values in Penzance Estate have kept up with the general percentage increase achieved in other areas of Hout Bay.

The prediction that property prices are going to ‘explode’ is a little difficult to qualify. While the prospect of the long-awaited Hout Bay High School will certainly benefit the surrounding areas, the idea of a property price ‘explosion’ is rather premature at this stage.

The crime statistics gathered from the security company which is very active in Penzance Estate shows that the area has one of the lowest incidences of crime in Hout Bay. There are security patrols by day and night with dogs, and the area has a very active and efficient Neighbourhood Watch system.

The Imizamo Yethu township is restricted by a court interdict from encroaching any further towards the Penzance Estate border. The land being targeted for further development is the Forestry land between the existing settlement and the Main Road. Even though this land is also protected by the same interdict, the squatters are trying to get this portion released.

I would advise anybody looking to purchase property in an area where there might be questions about security to become more proactive and contact the security companies involved in the area about their crime statistics as well as the local neighbourhood watch.

Bernie Staub and Grant Atteridge, Cape Waterfront Estates, +27 21 790 7644