Neighbourhood 27 MAY 2018
PROPERTY & LIFESTYLE
Picturesque With rustic charm and natural beauty, it’s easy to see why so many choose Winterton and Bergville, page 2
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SUBURB FOCUS: WINTERTON & BERGVILLE
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PROPERTY NEWS
27 MAY 2018
Neighbourhood
Suburb focus
Winterton & Bergville Here’s what’s happening in property in the area WORDS: ANNE SCHAUFFER IMAGES: THREE TREE HILL, JOPHOTO WINTERTON, OUMA SE OPSTAL & GOOGLE MAPS *Map not to scale
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he little towns of Winterton and Bergville, in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains, are in the heart of cattle and dairy farming country, forestry too, but they’re also gateways to a wealth of tourism sites and active sports. Bergville and Winterton sit on the scenic R74 and are easily accessed from that freeway, and hence from Durban and Joburg. It takes roughly 2,5 hours to get there from Durban – not much more from Joburg – which, considering it’s the gateway to the innumerable hotels, resorts and action sports offered by the northern and central ‘Berg ranges, makes the areas highly desirable weekend getaway spots. Originally known as Springfield, Winterton sits on the banks of the Tugela River and earned that name because of the weir built over the Little Tugela River which runs through the town. It was later renamed after the then secretary for agriculture, HD Winter.
CATHEDRAL PEAK WINE ESTATE
A few kilometres along the R74, Bergville (originally named Bergville Mountain Village in 1897) is now the commercial centre for dairy and cattle ranching. Known as the gateway to the northern Drakensberg, the town lies just 40km away from the towering Amphitheatre of the Royal Natal National Park. These little towns have wonderful topography, sensational scenery and, with their temperature extremes, make for great winter escapes.
Property These are largely farming towns, so vast areas are populated with rambling farmhouses and livestock making the R74 along which they sprawl beautifully lush and scenic. Increasingly, tourism and hospitality have blossomed, and visitors to the area can find a wide range of accommodation, from a working farm and B&Bs, to a country lodge and campsites. These towns are perfect springboards for exploring the ‘Berg and visiting a number of historically significant battlefields.
Schooling
We own a timeshare in the area and escape here from Joburg once a year. The ‘Berg lifestyle is the opposite of the fraught lives we lead at home; we wouldn’t miss these seven days for the world!
Both Bergville and Winterton have numerous pre-primary and primary schools, such as Bergville Pre-Primary and Primary schools, as well as Bergville Christian Academy. Winterton has the wellknown Winterton Primary School, and there are numerous other public and private schools in the large, outlying rural areas, such as Celimfundo Primary School and the Royal Drakensberg Primary School. The well-known Drakensberg Boys Choir School established in 1967 is based just outside Winterton and accommodates vocally talented boys from junior school through to Grade 9.
ANNE HAIL, ANNUAL HOLIDAY-MAKER
For many farmers, the esteemed private high schools in the KwaZuluNatal Midlands, such as Michaelhouse, PUBLISHED BY TIMES MEDIA PROPERTY PUBLISHING 1st Floor, Block H, Sable Square cnr Bosmansdam and Ratanga Roads Milnerton, Cape Town
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27 MAY 2018
Neighbourhood
PROPERTY NEWS
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Hilton College, St Anne’s Diocesan College for Girls, among others, offer weekly or full boarding options.
Explore The towns straddling the N3 – Winterton, Frere, Colenso, Ladysmith and Bergville – are all home to Anglo Boer War battlefield sites. If you don’t want to explore on your own, you can join a number of private tour companies and excellent guides who’ll take you to the locations and share some interesting stories. Just northeast of Bergville is the 6,000ha Spionkop Dam Nature Reserve and the Battle of Spion Kop self-guided trail. The dam is designed for day visitors and campers/caravanners and has a good selection of wildlife and picnic, boating and fishing spots. Winterton is considered an entry point to the Champagne Valley as well as the Cathedral area of the central Drakensberg. West of both towns is the Drakensberg mountain range and Champagne Valley, where you’ll find a host of well-known hotels and timeshare resorts like Champagne Sports Resort, Drakensberg Sun, Cathedral Peak Hotel and Champagne Castle Hotel. You can enjoy a variety of sports here, from mountain and quad biking, to golf and fly fishing. This section of the Drakensberg has wonderful trails to hike, peaks to climb and mountains to scale, such as Monks Cowl and Champagne Castle.
OUMA SE OPSTAL
Enjoy hiking trails like Mike’s Pass, Cathedral Peak Hike, the Rainbow Gorge Trail and short walks to Mushroom Rock and Doreen Falls. Monks Cowl Wilderness Reserve, about 40km southwest of the town, is a popular starting point for hikes. For those who want to take things a little slower, Winterton is also home to the Drakensberg’s only wine estate, Cathedral Peak Wine Estate. The estate offers group wine tasting as well as informal tastings. It also has great lunch offerings such as Drakensberg smoked trout salad, homemade bobotie and cheese, and cold meat platters. Due to its stunning surroundings, it’s also a popular wedding venue.
BATTLE OF SPION KOP MEMORIAL
For sale in Northern Drakensburg Median asking price:
R3m
Monthly bond repayments
For a typical property (four-bedroom house)
R2,9m
R3,2m
For an apartment
For a house
For a typical property in this area You’ll pay
R28,951
In Winterton and Bergville, you can enjoy breathtaking vistas and most of the ‘Berg is an easy drive away. You can also choose accommodation which gives you stunning views of the Amphitheatre. Resident Kyle Van Plett says, “We moved to the area a decade ago to raise our kids away from the city, where we could all, as a family, really live the South African outdoor lifestyle. That’s just what we’re doing, and we love it.”
per month
Property Type:
94% house
Based on
6%
apartment
R3m median asking price
over a period of 20 years at 10% prime
SHOP: • Kwazulu Weavers • Thokozisa Lifestyle Centre • Chocolate Memories for Drakensberg artisan chocolate • Ardmore Guest Farm for African Loom, Steve Bull art, the Ardmore Museum and the Tea Garden
DO: • Visit Falcon Ridge Bird of Prey Centre to learn more about falconry. • Explore the Anglo-Boer War battlefields of Vaalkrans and Spion Kop. • Learn more about the history of the area at the Winterton Museum. • See the area from a new perspective with a hot-air balloon ride. • Enjoy a thrilling adventure with the Scootours at Champagne Valley Adventure Centre. • Mountain biking enthusiasts have their pick of trails like the Grindrod Bank Berg & Bush which goes to Winterton. • Enjoy great wines at the Drakensberg’s only wine estate, Cathedral Peak Wine Estate. • Four Rivers Rafting and Adventures • Berg Ventures
SLEEP: • Three Tree Hill Lodge, Bergville • Ezulwini Berg Resort, Bergville • Amphitheatre Backpackers Lodge, Bergville • Montusi Mountain Lodge, Bergville • Inkungu Lodge, Cathkin Park • Spionkop Lodge, Winterton • Cathedral Peak Hotel, Winterton • The Wild Geese, Winterton • Lilac Lodge, Winterton • Bridge Lodge, Winterton • The Nest Hotel, Winterton • Tugela River Lodge, Winterton • Ouma se Opstal, Winterton
Get Hold Of Our Reservationist’s Now To Book Your Spot At The Nest Hotel. With Winter Specials Like These You Don’t Want To Miss Out! Christmas In July, 20% Off Selected Periods, And Much Much More! reservations@thenest.co.za • 036 468 1068
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PROPERTY NEWS
27 MAY 2018
Neighbourhood
My business neighbourhood Smokey Jack Designs in Glen Anil offers personalised rustic designs and furniture with old-school charm WORDS: TIVANIA MOODLEY
IMAGES: SUPPLIED
wood-based designs and offer authentic and earthy products with a unique feel to them. I experimented with laser cutting and engraving, CNC routing and good-old-fashioned furniture assemblage with a fresh look and feel, and the business grew from that. Q: Why did you choose this area to set up shop? A: Glen Anil has been home for the last five years and I wanted to start the business by servicing this area first. Q: How did you find your premises? A: I’ve been lucky enough to have enough space to work from home.
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hantelle Walton loves the idea of ultra-precise wooden decor carved to perfection. She established her business, Smokey Jack Designs, to give clients personalised and unique products for their home or special occasions. She tells us more about her business. Q: How did your business start? A: In 2015, I had an idea to create
Q: Why are they ideally suited to your business? A: Being an outdoor business, I run it from home and have suppliers and clients based on the Dolphin Coast and locally. It’s all organised not to take up too much space in my home. If need be, I store plants and/or wood outside for short periods of time. I have a small area in my home which I use as an office for all the design work.
Q: How many people visit your business each day? A: I have many product enquiries daily, but the actual number of orders varies from one to five because I tend to do orders for special occasions or cater for clients looking for a decor statement piece for their home or office. People then often become repeat clients. Q: Do you have any expansion plans? A: I’d love to set up a studio in the future that showcases the designs, where clients can feel comfortable spending time while we brainstorm to create customised products. Q: Do you operate online as well? A: I have a Facebook page (facebook. com/smokeyjackdesigns) and an Instagram account (@smokeyjackdesigns) that showcase all the designs. Q: What’s your most popular item? A: I would have to say that the woodcovered photo albums are getting the most interest. They are a unique concept and customised for each wedding or individual.
Q: Who are your neighbours? A: Residents who have become clients. Q: What are the shop rental/ sales prices like in this area? A: I have no idea what the rental prices are like because I haven’t needed to look into a permanent base of operations yet, but I hope to expand as the business grows.
SEE FOR YOURSELF: Smokey Jack Designs 082 610 5608 facebook.com/smokeyjackdesigns
19880
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PROPERTY NEWS
27 MAY 2018
Neighbourhood
Buy now in Parkhurst
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report released by research group New World Wealth (NWW) at the end of 2017, listed Parkhurst in Joburg as the third-fastest-growing area for wealth in South Africa. NWW determines the exclusivity of a suburb/area by pricing property per square metre and by the number of R20m homes in the area. Parkhurst’s R12,000/m2 property pricing earned it a spot as one of the fastest-growing wealth areas. Shelley-Ann Solms of Jawitz Properties says this ranking isn’t unexpected but adds that the window to purchase an affordable property in the area is slowly closing. “It’s great that Parkhurst has achieved
this ranking as it boosts the suburb’s standing and popularity and various aspects, from upgraded public spaces to family-friendly lifestyle factors, are driving demand. And with an improved economic outlook on the horizon, I would advise people who have considered Parkhurst as an area in which to live to get in now, before prices start increasing,” says Solms. Over the last few years, property in Parkhurst has become more affordable. The centrally located area is attracting professional families who are buying renovated freehold homes in an area surrounded by good schools and has upgraded, safe and usable public spaces.
While buy-to-let investors can do research into properties on the market themselves, there are two areas where expert management is imperative: your investment and its process, and the rental. With the right assistance and guidance, not only would you be investing in your wealth, but also in your time. CHARLIENE HOFFMAN, GENERAL MANAGER, JUST PROPERTY INVEST
Creating the first Auto City in Africa
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automotive manufacturing core that will enable workers to walk to work and redress the poor land decisions of the past.
According to Brendan Falkson, director, Rosslyn Hub, Rosslyn will emulate well-established automotive cities like those in Spain, China, Germany and Japan. This will create a second “CBD” on the doorstep of Ga-Rankuwa and Soshanguve, anchored by a labour intensive
Rosslyn Hub will include 1,200 houses and 250 rental apartments; a crèche, a primary and high school; a university with student housing; two shopping centres, a value centre and filling station; a logistics park and vehicle distribution centre; a truck staging area and truck stop; motor showrooms and a motor retail area; a hospital and clinic; a hotel and conference centre; and an outdoor automotive pavilion. All this within a secure, pedestrian-friendly environment.
he development of Rosslyn Hub, a R3bn mixed-use development, is a crucial step towards the creation of the Tshwane Auto City: a R 50bn project that will be funded by private sector investment and could be an example of how to develop Africa’s future Smart Cities in a sustainable way.
Cape Town’s luxury market
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ccording to Knight Frank’s PIRI 100 index, Cape Town’s luxury residential property market saw growth of 19,9% in 2017, the second-best performance worldwide. The PIRI 100 index, or prime international residential index, formed part of Knight Frank’s 2018 Wealth Report, which tracks data on wealthy and ultra-wealthy individuals from around the world. “Cape Town is fast becoming a truly global holiday destination and an increasingly desirable residential address for South Africa’s high net worth individuals, as well as those from abroad,” said Deon de Klerk, head of wealth: Africa
regions, Standard Bank. “The luxury residential property market in the city has really been able to capitalise on its newfound reputation as the ‘Monaco of the South’.” Knight Frank attributes the strong performance of Cape Town’s luxury residential property market to a combination of demand- and supplyrelated factors. On the demand side, the areas near Table Mountain, including the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl, continue to attract strong inward migration from other parts of South Africa as well as sustained foreign buying. On the supply side, prices were further underpinned by the lack of existing stock or new development opportunities in Cape Town’s prime locations.
Childproofing your home We chat with an expert about how to get started and what to keep in mind WORDS: ANNE SCHAUFFER
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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hildren are curious, and you want them to be. Whether you’re expecting your first or you have a grandchild on the way, childproofing the house for the next couple of years can give you peace of mind. Michelle Jacobs of Baby Proof says, “The goal of childproofing is not to turn your home into a prison-like setting that completely inhibits a child’s ability to explore and develop. Rather, childproofing should balance such factors as safety, aesthetics, cost, child supervision level and livability.” Childproofing is not just about installing preventative hardware; it’s also about thinking differently.
Getting started
Michelle says, “Getting down on all fours helps us see the world in a new way and opens up our eyes to potential dangers we may not have thought about.” Electrical plug points are child magnets, and although it’s straightforward to fit safety plugs or outlet covers to unused wall sockets, it’s more difficult to know what to do with active plugs. “Hide electrical cords behind furniture, alternatively use trunking, Velcro tape and electric cord organisers to tidy up these cords.”
Staircases or stairs
Safety gates at the top and bottom of staircases are the simplest and most effective solution. “If railings have vertical openings wider than 8cm, safeguard them with plastic garden fencing or Perspex. Horizontal railings, no matter the gap, must always be safeguarded,” says Michelle.
The kitchen
This is a challenging area, and although it’s easiest to install a safety gate, it’s often not practical to do so. There are numerous child safety mechanisms which effectively “lock” cupboards and drawers for little fingers, but still allow adults easy access. All cleaning materials, poisons and detergents must be relocated to a cupboard that children won’t be able to reach. A good idea is making a habit of using the back plates on your stove hob, turning pot handles towards the back and installing an oven lock. Michelle also suggests securing the refrigerator with an appliance or refrigerator latch.
Bathrooms
Barring access to the bathroom isn’t
always feasible, so it’s important to secure this room, from the hot tap to the medicine chest. Toiletries such as shampoo may seem harmless, but can be dangerous if ingested by a child. All medicines should be locked away, ideally in a high, wall-mounted cupboard.
General areas
“Open, unguarded windows can be hazardous,” says Michelle. “They should be able to be locked, but if not, fit them with a Jackloc Window Restrictor. Use window guards, window stops and safety netting on windows, decks and landings, and safeguard balconies with Perspex.” Heavy furniture and bookcases can pose a threat if they can be pulled over, so if in doubt, secure them to the wall with brackets. For heating, Michelle suggests an Econo-Heat electric wall panel heater, which is safe for children. Sharp edges on tables and other surfaces, as well as doors which can trap fingers, can be softened with a range of specific soft foam products. Lastly, be sure to block off your driveway and garage with a door and safety gate.
27 MAY 2018
Neighbourhood
PROPERTY NEWS
7
VAT and property Property experts explain how the VAT increase will affect the market IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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he new VAT rate of 15% was implemented on 1 April and consumers are adjusting to new pricing on shelves. The new rate affects property to some extent, although VAT isn’t charged on once-off residential property transactions, rentals or levies. In other words, property buyers and tenants are not subject to VAT. Buyers pay transfer duty instead. However, developers, who buy, build and sell residential properties, and owners of commercial properties which are either let or sold are affected by the VAT increase. Richard Gray, CEO, Harcourts South Africa, says, “Although 1% seems like a very slight increase, transactions like high-value commercial properties, where one of the parties is registered for VAT, or new development investments, might feel the increase far more than the middle to lower end of the market.” Lee Ellis, director, Tyson Properties Westville, says residential developments will be affected by the VAT increase, including those which were unfinished or still in the pipeline on 1 April.
WE BET
Pieter Janse van Rensburg, franchisee, Just Property, says that the VAT rate that was effective on the date that a written sales agreement was entered into will apply if the property is residential, if the price is included in the documents, if the agreement was signed before the increase date and if transfer of the property took place on or after 1 April 2018. VAT also affects agents’ commissions. “While the commission itself is not affected, the VAT on commission will cost more. I would imagine sellers will use this to try and leverage a lower commission rate, which will be unfortunate as it’s akin to asking a shop to reduce the price of its products to absorb the increase in VAT. This cost will also have an effect on the transaction cost in property disposal and could impact sellers and their net sale proceeds,” says Jonathan Davies, regional director, Tyson Properties Gauteng. Another area of residential property where VAT can apply is on the fees charged by letting agencies or property management companies. The charges to owners and tenants each month will include VAT at the standard rate if the company or agent is registered for VAT.
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THE LUXURY YOU WANT THE LIFE YOU DESERVE
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Come and have a look at our luxury apartment 12029, available daily for viewings WARREN BECKER 082 302 3004 | warren@thehoughton.com ALAN BECKER 082 718 8100 | alan@thehoughton.com Houghton on 12th, 53 Second Ave, Houghton | Show apartment 12029