You don’t find many suburbs that have a highway running through the middle of it, but with the N3 (the beginning of it) bisecting Buccleuch, the suburb has a split personality.
One the western side of the suburb the suburb is dominated by sectional title developments while on the eastern side it has a more rustic feel, dominated by freehold properties.That said the suburb is dominated by its position, with the Old Pretoria Road forming one boundary and the N3 and N1 in close proximity.
The suburb is also one that has a great deal of open ground in its immediate proximity with the open land of Wits University’s Frankenwald land bordering the one side of the suburb and the open land between Midrand and Johannesburg encircling the suburb on its other side. This level of openness contributes to an unstable security situation, something that will continue to depress property prices in the suburb.
However, the development of the Gautrain, which runs just to the east of the suburb should create a stronger security corridor, while the development of the Waterfall area in Midrand should secure the northern border of the suburb creating a safer environment.
The trade off for increased security is, of course, that some of the rural feel of eastern Buccleuch will be lost.
From a location perspective Buccleuch is well positioned for people looking to reach anywhere in eastern Johannesburg or Pretoria. It is within easy reach of both the Marboro and Midrand Gautrain stations and getting to both the N1 and N3 is relatively easy. Woodmead is a stone’s throw away and Fourways is within easy reach, as is Sandton (just a few offramps down the highway). The average freehold price has been hovering around the R1-million mark for the last few years, while the sectional title prices have seen similar stability at around R600 000.
Demographically most of the stable owners are in the 36-50 year-old category, while the majority of new buyers fall into the 18-35 year-old category. This is likely because of the high number of sectional title properties in the area, making it ideal for first time buyers. There is a Primary School in Buccleuch, but its more isolated location means that other primary schools are slightly further away. The same is true with High Schools with Wendywood High School 3km away but the next closest high school (excluding township schools) 6 km away in Midrand. There are private schools in Sandton, such as Redhill, but on the whole the suburb is not in the strongest position from an education point of view.
