Investors Are Looking for Stronger Yields and Lower Rental Risks

The early response to Bryanston Country Estate has already shown there is demand for well-positioned residential product in this part of Johannesburg. The more interesting question now is what kind of apartment offering investors are willing to back.

Early demand for the broader development saw 91 house units reserved within eight hours of launch, with a waiting list continuing to build. Now, as Craft Homes turns the spotlight more firmly onto the estate’s apartment offering, the story is becoming less about launch momentum and more about what investors are actively looking for in this market: income resilience, flexibility and exposure to a proven location.

That matters in a residential environment where buyers have become far more deliberate. Investors are still interested in yield, but increasingly they are also asking what sits behind it. How secure is the node? How broad is the tenant pool? How quickly can income recover if a tenant leaves? And which developments are being designed around the realities of how South Africans now live and rent, rather than around outdated assumptions?

For Craft Homes, those questions sit at the centre of the Bryanston Country Estate apartment proposition.

Reinier van Loggerenberg, CEO of Craft Homes, says: “We have seen very strong demand for the estate, which confirms the enduring appeal of Bryanston when the product and location are right, but the apartment story is especially relevant now because investors are thinking more carefully. They are not just chasing a percentage return. They want to know how a unit performs over time, how adaptable it is and how exposed they are to vacancy risk.”

Set in one of Johannesburg’s most established and consistently sought-after suburbs, Bryanston Country Estate’s apartments are aimed at a wide tenant and buyer market that includes young professionals, early-career Sandton workers, smaller households and those seeking secure, connected living close to the city’s northern business and lifestyle nodes. In that sense, the location does much of the heavy lifting. Bryanston remains one of the city’s more stable residential addresses, with strong links to Sandton, Fourways and major schools, shopping centres, healthcare and leisure amenities.

But location on its own is no longer enough to carry an investment case.

What distinguishes this apartment release is the extent to which the product has been structured around income logic. The most notable feature is the dual-tenancy option available on selected two-bedroom units. Through an interleading design and the addition of an optional kitchenette and extra built-in cupboard space, the second bedroom can function as a separate living zone, allowing the unit to accommodate two tenants rather than one household.

That creates a different kind of rental proposition in a market where affordability is under pressure, but demand for access to the area remains strong.

“The dual-income model is important because it reduces dependence on a single tenant profile. It gives investors the ability to structure one asset around two rental streams, which can materially improve resilience. In practical terms, if one tenant leaves, the unit does not necessarily fall to zero income while you re-let the space. That is a meaningful advantage.”

It also opens the door to a type of tenant increasingly common in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs: younger professionals who want proximity to work and lifestyle amenities, but are not yet in a position to take on the cost of a larger conventional apartment on their own. Instead of forcing the market into a single format, Craft Homes is responding to how tenants actually behave.

This investor-led approach is supported by the numbers. For selected upgraded two-bedroom units, projected gross yields can reach up to 11.50%, with combined rental income of up to R20 000 per month.

Across the broader portfolio, the blended projection indicates gross yields of around 10% when combining different investment units. Net yields are projected at up to 9%+, depending on the unit type, with annual rental growth estimated at 10%. In a market where investors are increasingly weighing risk as heavily as return, that combination begins to look compelling.

“We are seeing a shift away from simplistic investment thinking,” says van Loggerenberg. “A good residential asset today demands a good suburb and an attractive finish, however, it is also about how efficiently that asset can work for its owner, and how well it is positioned to meet real rental demand. That is the lens through which these apartments were designed.”

Importantly, the rental appeal is not being built on yield alone. Bryanston Country Estate has been planned to support the kind of everyday experience that underpins tenant retention over the long term. The apartment precinct includes a clubhouse with a hosting kitchen, a fully equipped gym, a fenced swimming pool, landscaped communal areas, braai facilities and pet-friendly spaces. Security, as expected in this end of the market, is central: gated access, dedicated gatehouse infrastructure, CCTV coverage, app-based access control, facial recognition and 24-hour guarding all form part of the offer.

Those features may sound like standard modern estate language, but in practice they shape the reliability of tenant demand. Secure, amenity-rich estates in established nodes continue to outperform because they speak to the needs of both residents and landlords. They are easier to let, more likely to retain occupants and better aligned with the preferences of time-poor urban tenants looking for convenience as much as address.

Craft Homes has also paid close attention to the way the apartments feel. Ground-floor units include private gardens, upper floors have balconies and buyers can choose from curated interior palettes and finishes that move the product away from generic apartment stock. The result is a development that is designed to feel considered and contemporary, while still grounded in the softer country-inspired aesthetic that informs the wider estate.

Van Loggerenberg explains: “For us, long-term value comes from getting the fundamentals right and then making sure the design supports them. Bryanston has always had a degree of built-in strength as a residential node, but what matters now is matching that with homes that reflect the way people want to live and invest in 2026.”
The houses at Bryanston Country Estate may have delivered the first visible proof of demand, but the apartments are where a more revealing market story is now emerging. Craft Homes is making a case for apartments that do more than offer a foothold in Bryanston; they offer a more flexible, yield-conscious and risk-aware investment model at a time when exactly those qualities are rising to the top of the market’s priority list.

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Author: Petra Peacock from Chimeracomms on behalf of Craft Homes.

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