Jamie Bunce, CEO of Inspired Villages, tells us about how it all started for him with a Youth Training Scheme, and why he is passionate about supporting alternative routes for talent, especially apprenticeships and early career programmes. We hear how our Baby Boomers are embracing retirement and are proud, passionate and curious to embrace new interests…
Jamie, how did your career begin in property and what has been your path to becoming CEO of Inspired Villages?
I got into the property sector relatively early when I went to work for a small building contractor on a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) after leaving school at 15. Alongside this I attended college and Leicester Polytechnic and, after seven years of studying whilst I worked, I passed my final exams to become a member of The Chartered Institute of Building. Soon after, aged 23 years old, it was a proud moment when I started my own building contractor company.
Over time, I moved from construction to development where I spent many years expanding my horizons and covering all manner of projects including town regeneration with Modus. In 2008 I started a development and project management business and it was during this time that my first later living business, English Care Village Partnerships, was created with a focus on retirement communities. The company secured planning permission for the development of two villages for Anchor Trust and a Joint Venture with Places for People for the delivery of Gifford Lea and Austin Heath communities. In 2017 we secured funding from Legal & General Capital and formed Inspired Villages to operate and develop a growing portfolio of communities. I took the role as CEO and have overseen the rapid growth of the business from 25 to 350 colleagues today, supporting over 1,200 residents with a secured pipeline of 2,800 later living properties across the UK.
I am very proud of my vocational route to becoming the CEO of Inspired Villages and am passionate about supporting alternative routes for talent, especially apprenticeships and early career programmes.
Inspired Villages builds homes for retired people; we have an ageing population, so is this housing sector set to grow in the next few years?
As it stands, the population of over-65s in this country is set to increase from over 11.2m to almost 18m by 2040, with older people accounting for 25-30% of the population in many areas. A sad fact is the vast majority will live in standard housing while as many as 6.2m will live alone.
In addition to this, there is a substantial imbalance between the rate our population is ageing, and the delivery of housing built with later living in mind. If we look at countries with similarly ageing populations, like Australia and America, they are far more familiar with the concept and sold on the benefits of bespoke retirement communities. People living independently for as long as possible, but integration with their village centre, community and other services means they can have access to support and care to suit their wants and needs, on their terms.
So, this sector is not just set to grow, it needs to grow. At Inspired we are fulfilling this need with our plan to create 34 communities across the UK with over 5,100 new, purpose-built homes, supporting 8,000 residents through our joint venture with NatWest Group Pension Fund and Legal & General Capital.
A growing body of research shows people live healthier and longer lives in specialist retirement housing thanks to the support network it provides. The evidence shows fewer spells in hospital, quicker discharge back home, fewer visits to A&E and delayed transfer into nursing care.
Your ethos is to 'put the health and happiness of our residents at the heart of everything we do, with the promise of a life less ordinary for today's generation of retirees.' What does it take to create this for your buyers?
Inspired is aligned behind the purpose of creating communities where people can live the best years of their life. From the land we purchase, to our collaborative method to secure planning, through the design phases, as people move in and how we support them thereafter. Our decisions are made with this in mind and supporting residents as much or little as they want and need. Our structure allows us to continually evolve with our residents as society and their needs change.
More important than the bricks and mortar are the communities we are creating. By listening to the people who make those communities, we are constantly learning and working to get things right, more often than we get them wrong. However, when we do get it wrong, we learn, recover and improve, always driven by a desire to be here to support people as much as they want and need so they’re living their best lives, on their own terms.
How do you support downsizing buyers who can get caught up in complicated and stressful chains before moving to one of your homes?
As a sector we call this rightsizing. There’s always lots of talk about first time buyers, but by creating communities and designing homes with over-65s in mind, we support progression across the whole housing sector. At Inspired we work hard to ensure the move, which in many cases could be people’s last, is as stress-free as possible and totally aligned with the customer’s needs.
We have a part exchange programme called Home Purchasing Service (HPS) where we can take care of the whole purchase of a customer’s existing home, declutter and organise moving into our communities. The HPS service consists of a six-week valuation of the property and the fastest we have seen someone move in is within two weeks. On average it’s around two thirds faster than a standard purchase and with a gain share agreement, we ensure the customer gets maximum value.
Alongside this we have a number of rental options, deferred completions, as well as rent to buy so if there’s issues with the chain, we have a number of flexible options to suit the buyer and ensure it doesn’t impact their plans.
What's something that might surprise people about the facilities you offer at your developments?
What makes integrated retirement communities, such as Inspired, different is that we are an operator and developer, so we ensure a complete maintenance plan for all the properties to ensure they remain at an A1 grade standard in perpetuity. Our data has demonstrated properties generally maintain their value and the vast majority see property values increase as well as reselling quickly.
Do your developments offer facilities for families to stay when they're visiting relatives in a smaller apartment to their previous family home?
There are fantastic facilities across our villages that residents’ families are welcomed and encouraged to come along and enjoy. From our landscaped grounds to wellness suites and cinemas. Many of our restaurants are also open to the general public and are great spaces for lunch with friends, intergenerational dining and some are even pet-friendly so we are as welcoming as possible, placing great value on nurturing a vibrant and thriving community.
Do you think people are beginning to see retirement differently to, say, a previous generation?
Absolutely, with every new generation that enters retirement, we are seeing generational nuances and trends that are different to the last. And, it’s not all about age but also shared experiences. The Baby boomer generation have a different outlook on what retirement means to them but Covid also changed trends, including pushing older generations to become more tech savvy and use social media more.
Ageing is changing and the narrative around later life needs to keep up. The retirement age in the UK is 66, so you’re talking about people including John Travolta, Meryl Streep and Dame Helen Mirren rather than the ‘old dear’ stereotype people imagine when they think of retirees. We see residents going to the gym five times a week, doing yoga classes, Pilates and playing pickleball. Our ageing population are proud, passionate, and curious about trying new things and at Inspired we find every opportunity to continue empowering them to do that. Whether it’s organising for them to take part in a skydive or a Dragonboat race, we’re all about creating communities where people can enjoy the best years of their life.
Which developments are available to move into at the moment?
We currently have eight operational villages across the UK from Cheshire to Exeter. A number of those have waiting lists however our ninth village is opening this Autumn in Bedfordshire. It’s called Millfield Green and we’re very proud it’s the UK’s first Net Zero Carbon (regulated energy) retirement community.
Our villages include:
Gifford Lea, Cheshire
Bramshott Place, Hampshire
Austin Heath, Warwickshire
Millbrook, Devon
Great Alne Park, Warwickshire
Durrants, West Sussex
Ledian Gardens, Kent
Elderswell, Bedfordshire
Do you offer incentives or packages to your buyers?
Moving house is one of the most stressful life moments for people of every age. Many over-65s have been in a much larger home for a number of years. This can be a huge blocker for them meaning they stay in a house that is too large for them and in many cases, not appropriate for their stage of life.
One of the incentives we offer is start-to-finish support on the home move process. We’ve had some amazing feedback on how beneficial this has been to residents and that’s a big incentive for many.
We also run a number of incentives throughout the year such as rent-free periods and free energy offers. Another incentive, and something we see across our portfolio is the properties holding their value or increasing over time which can be another deciding factor for residents and their families.
And finally, what can you tell us about the way you've seen people's lives change for the better when they settle in a new community with you?
The statistic that on average our gym-going members have taken 8.8 years of their biological age thanks to our wellbeing programmes and community support is something that inspires me every day and something I want to become synonymous with life at Inspired. And not just for those who live with us, we’re looking at how we can extend these programmes to wider communities and create a movement of active, connected, over-65s who are living younger for longer.
We hear phrases like ‘new lease of life’ very regularly at Inspired, but stories that have stuck with me over the years are residents who don’t think they would be here today had they not moved into one of our communities. People who moved in with mobility scooters and walking sticks and after a couple of months I have seen them walking unaided, with a spring in their step, meeting friends for lunch or going to their book club. It’s not just about living longer, it’s about living well and belonging to a community that never stops trying to help you live the best years of your life.