Luxury property in Sandton’s best suburbs

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South African homes in general and particularly those of luxury proportions are known to be relatively or exceptionally spacious and large, almost always having a wide street-facing frontage, featuring large windows that let in a great deal of natural light and ample ventilation.

Considering that much of this country’s rainbow heritage has its origin in Britain, especially in England, the average width and number of windows of city homes here are markedly different from those in Britain, even those which occupy the best, most prestigious city addresses in London.

Counting pennies and windows

Have you ever wondered why this very obvious difference exists? It all boils down to the number of windows in the walls of a house and the tax, accordingly imposed by the authorities of the time. 

The more windows a home had, the more the occupant or homeowner was taxed – a unique type of property tax that applied to modest and luxury properties. As a result, dwellings were built with few windows, especially on the street-facing façade, where windows would be instantly spotted by tax collectors. Window tax was introduced in 1696 and abolished in 1851.

Location and luxury

However, old British buildings were refurbished and modernised, instead of being torn down and replaced when they became old, and huge numbers of them are therefore still occupied today as period properties. Many such properties are frankly luxurious, depending on location, location, and location – the enduring rule of sound property investment.

The importance of the location rule applies to investment and luxury properties in South Africa too, although the numbers and sizes of our windows here are very different, perhaps due to South Africans’ love of the outdoors. We tend to show a preference for having a seamless flow from indoors to outside and vice versa in prime properties that offer a luxury lifestyle. This is particularly evident in Sandton’s top properties.

Sandton

When compared with Johannesburg, Sandton is a comparatively new area that developed and grew around a new shopping mall, Sandton City, which first opened its doors to trade in 1973. Sandton City and Sandton were given this name by authorities who combined Bryanston and Sandown into Sandton. The former two are affluent existing suburbs bordering on Sandton.

The developers of Sandton City predicted that the centre and immediately surrounding areas would become “the richest square mile in Africa”, and their predictions were soon realised. Today, Sandton is still known worldwide by this name.

Property prices in Sandton have soared during the intervening years – another example of the truth of the location credo. Luxury properties abound in Sandton, which has continued to develop and grow unabated, even during tough economic times and lean years in the overall property and financial markets – a real “good news story” for Sandton’s proud and astute luxury property owners.

Some of Sandton’s affluent and/or neighbouring suburbs that feature world-class luxury properties include:

• Atholl
• Houghton
• Morningside
• River Club
• Hyde Park
• Wierda Valley
• Dunkeld
• Rosebank
• Lone Hill

Luxury property specialists in Sandton

Those who have even just a marginal knowledge of Sandton and the surrounding suburbs will realise that this area is enormous. Sandton’s large luxury properties are almost always in demand. It is wise to engage the services of qualified, experienced estate agents who have an intimate knowledge of the areas they cover and in which you are interested, thereby avoiding possible property pitfalls.

Once you contact Fine & Country South Africa, a specialist luxury property agent will be assigned to assist you throughout your property transaction, without leaving you to count windows or calculate property taxes.