Cash in on Tyger Waterfront's rental shortages

Residential property developers operating in the Greater Cape Town area right now are missing out on one of the biggest opportunities that the entire Cape property market can offer them.

On average, single bedroom flats at Tyger Waterfront are renting for R5 800 a month, double bedroom units from R6 300 to R8 800 per month, and three bedroom apartments from R10 000 to R12 000, says Begemann.

This is according to Terry Begemann, manager of the Rawson Property Group’s Tyger Waterfront franchise’s rental division, who says for some 18 months now they have had over 50 people on their waiting list for rental properties.

“They all want to live here more than anywhere else, but it can take months to find them apartments, and by that time many will have gone elsewhere,” she says.

“Surely this situation means that there is now room for two or three new apartment projects in this vicinity?”

Begemann says there are no less than 1 000 apartments in the Tyger Waterfront, but at no one time are there more than 1% to 3% available for lease, and one of the main reasons for this is that those who have secured an apartment lease will almost invariably renew it when it expires, even if the landlord increases the rent by as much as 10%.

“They know only too well that there is now a serious shortage of rental space in the Northern Suburbs, particularly this year, and certainly nothing else is as attractive as the Tyger Waterfront,” says Begemann.

This two bedroom, one bedroom flat for rent in The Falls in Tyger Waterfront is situated on a corner, enjoying views of the greenbelt. It is available for R7 800 per month - click here to view.

In such high-demand situations of this kind, she says rental increases tend to be high, but although rises have been significant at Tyger Waterfront, they are still reasonable when compared to those of the more popular upper-middle bracket centralCape Peninsula suburbs such as Rondebosch,Claremont and Kenilworth.

On average, single bedroom flats at Tyger Waterfront are renting for R5 800 a month, double bedroom units from R6 300 to R8 800 per month, and three bedroom apartments from R10 000 to R12 000.

As a direct result of these units being so sought after, Begemann says tenants are looking after their units far better, and all except a very small minority pay their rents on time.

Begemann and her team manage some 200 units, and over the last three years they have had to evict only one tenant for non-payment. Investing in such units, even despite the increased prices therefore makes very good sense, says Begemann.

Asked what formula she would advise a new apartment developer in this area to adopt, Begemann says her experience has shown that the complexes with retail space on the ground floor, offices on the second and third floors and apartments above them are almost fool proof in this precinct, where, really, all of the residents are apartment dwellers.