If we get asked one question more than others- its probably this one. Perhaps it is a question people either gloss over on the one extreme and over-exaggerate on the other.
The short answer is Yes. Compare Hout Bay to neighbouring suburbs and you will find that Hout Bay prices are about 30% less for similar value. Hout Bay has 18 suburbs and some are affected more than others by the impact of integration.
Because Imizamo Yethu was really one of the first "squatter camps" in a "rich" area it got more than its fair share of publicity. If you were to ask someone from Pretoria about Hout Bay- even if they had never been there they would ask you about the "squatter problem."
The publicity seems to have spread around the world. I have been interviewed on several news programs, CNN, BBC,Carte Blanche,etv, SABC and by journalists from all over the world.
Officially, Imizamo Yethu is no longer referred to as a "squatter camp." The term informal settlement is far more PC these days. The settlement is in the process of being properly format and a budget of R260million has been allocated to build new housing and schooling, commercial and light industrial nodes.
The truth is that there are over 200 informal settlements in the Western Cape, and at least 30 of them are larger than Hout Bay's. Thanks to public donations mostly from the Niall Mellon initiave, which has built hundreds of houses with the help of Irish builders, the quality of life in the Hout Bay settlement is much better than in most.
The other difference with Hout Bay's settlement is that it is quite visible, extending along the mountainside. Sitting shoulder to shoulder with luxury homes of the rich and famous-perhaps it is this stark contrast which makes for so much publicity.
While the neighbouring areas have formed buffer zones from the rest of Hout Bay, areas such as Hughenden and Penzance, are definitely lower in price compared to the rest of Hout Bay. It is interesting though that even properties in these areas have enjoyed positive capital growth over the last 5 years, perhaps even more so than the rest of the country- with an average of 20% growth in 2007, about 5% higher than national averages.
The people that discount Hout Bay out of turn, are misinformed. Competing estate agencies from other areas often scare prospective purchasers away from the areas with claims of higher than normal crime levels and by exaggerated claims of the camp's affect on the area.
Perhaps a more relevant question should be: Has the informal settlement affected security in Hout Bay?
Hout Bay's alliance between the competing security companies, the police force and the highly successful Neighbourhood Watch has helped drop crime considerably- by as much as 67% in 2006. In fact Hout Bay crime levels are lower than most areas in the Western Cape, even when you include the stats for the majority of crime which occurs in the poorer areas.
There are several areas of Hout Bay that have less than one incident a month, considerably lower than areas like Constantia, Bishopscourt, Claremont, Rondebosch, Newlands or Camps Bay.
Hout Bay residents have taken the unusual step of publicising all property related crime- whereas most areas keep strangely quiet about their crime. Publicising the crime has the unfortunate effect of giving fodder to the critics of intergrated (non-apartheid) areas but by creating awareness it has the far more important result of bringing down crime levels as residents take the necessary steps to avoid becoming targets of crime.
South Africa is changing from a rural to urban population- by 2020 it is estimated that 80% of the population will be urbanised (currently about 65% of the populatiuon still live in rural areas) In the short term this means more squatter camps as government are completely overwhelmed by the current demands for urban housing.
The national government have said that they will be following a policy of integration of poorer people into richer areas, which is probablyy wise as it will happen with or without policy.
In Hout Bay there is very little public land left for expansion, and government is unlikely to buy private land when it has so much public land nearby. What this means is that other areas will still need to absorb the impact of a new squatter camp whereas Hout Bay has already learned to live with each other- and values have absorbed the shock
As Hout Bay matures the communities will continue to pressure government to raise the standards of living.
We are in the business of helping people with their Hout Bay real estate decisions. Call us for an honest opinion of how a property you may be interested in will be affected by future developments. Email [email protected] or ph +27 832991133
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