The Covid-19 pandemic has made us all think more about where we live and our lifestyle, and for the older generation, downsizing to a dedicated retirement development with great facilities and a sense of community can be the perfect next step.
Age-exclusive or retirement living developments are an opportunity to keep a foot on the property ladder with the benefits of a secure, low-maintenance, well-designed new build home, with the bonus of like-minded neighbours, and amenities and services for older people which general developments may not provide.
There’s a great choice of these types of homes across London and the South East of England right now.
Rosen House
Close to the centre of Harrow is Rosen House from Britain’s largest specialist retirement developer, McCarthy Stone, a company which has won numerous WhatHouse? Awards. It’s a pet-friendly collection of one- and two-bedroom apartments, featuring fully equipped kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms and bedrooms. Visitors are well looked after, with easy car parking and a comfortable guest suite.
It comes with landscaped gardens and an on-site communal lounge that has free Wi-Fi access and an attached patio area, and there’s also a mobility scooter room. A house manager is available for any problems. For peace of mind, there is a 24-hour emergency system and the development is very secure with video entry system to every home in addition to the building’s intruder and fire detection system.
The local area offers lots of shops and amenities with a short distance of home, and for trips further afield there are several stations near the complex. Euston station is only 20 minutes away by Overground train.
There are options to buy outright, rent or part buy-part rent. For 100% ownership, one-bedroom apartments start at £399,000, two-bedroom apartments from £489,995. Rent (including service charges) starts at £1,930 and £2,395pcm respectively. Find out more about Rosen House from McCarthy Stone.
Randolph House
For those who require a higher level of personal care, McCarthy Stone is also in Harrow with Randolph House which offers the ‘Retirement Living Plus’ lifestyle. This means 24-hour assistance, 365 days a year, plus one hour a week of domestic assistance included in service charge and a selected range of personal care packages tailored to your needs.
There’s a customer lounge with Wi-Fi access, an on-site restaurant and a guest suite that can be rented for an inexpensive charge to accommodate a visitor overnight. Pets are welcome and the whole development has been designed with wheelchair access in mind, with a mobility scooter room too. For those who’d like to borrow a vehicle, there’s a car club. An estates manager can help residents organise things.
Homes come with comfortable, energy-efficient underfloor heating and fully fitted kitchens and bathrooms. There’s a 24/7 emergency system to each home, and things like video entry and intruder alarms make this a very secure place to live.
Located in an established residential street to the east of the borough, close to the picturesque Harrow Hill golf course, prices for a one-bedroom home start from £372,950 and two-bedroom homes start at £495,995. Home can also be rented or available under ‘part buy-part rent. Find out more from McCarthy Stone.
Debden Grange
In the north of Essex, developer Retirement Villages has new homes for sale at Debden Grange, set amongst the sprawling countryside of Newport. This development comprises64 one- and two-bedroom apartments and 17 cottages, offering a variety of sizes, layouts and styles.
There’s an Open Day event here on Saturday 24 July to give visitors a socially distanced first-hand look at what’s on offer. They can take a close look at the specification of each energy-efficient home and see for themselves the wide range of other facilities including a restaurant, bar, shop, guest suites, treatment rooms and croquet lawn, all designed to provide an active and social lifestyle. In fact, for a few hours each week, the development now hosts a useful post office service for the village in its clubhouse.
Debden Grange is just a short drive from the market town of Saffron Walden. And is within easy reach of the M11. For days out, there are regular services into London Liverpool Street and Cambridge.
Prices here right now are £320,000 for a one-bedroom apartment and range from £405,000 to £550,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. There’s a management fee of £6,950.00 per annum for single or double occupancy. Find out more at www.retirementvillages.co.uk.
St Giles Lodge
Churchill Retirement Living recently published a survey of adults supporting both children and elderly parents (the ‘sandwich generation’) which found that the most time-consuming task is helping their parents with the upkeep of their home, with one in seven (14%) reporting spending more than five hours every month helping their parents with house maintenance. In all, the findings saw that almost two working days a month (12.5 hours) were dedicated to direct support to their parents. This is the equivalent of 20 working days a year.
Two-fifths (40%) of the Sandwich Generation say managing the needs of their children and parents makes them feel that they are not able to give everyone enough of their time, while a similar proportion say they regularly worry about how they will get everything done (39%).
Churchill's chairman & CEO Spencer J McCarthy, said: “People in the Sandwich Generation are clearly feeling anxious about being able to manage both childcare and support for their parents after what has been an extremely difficult period for many. The time spent looking after parents is unsustainable, and we should be looking for ways to support the Sandwich Generation and help them enjoy their newfound freedoms as we emerge from the pandemic.”
St Giles Lodge is a Churchill Retirement Living development in Tonbridge which is almost sold out – there’s just one unit left, a two-bedroom apartment priced £399,950. The development is close to an extensive range of shops, cafés and places to eat along the high street, in an area with cinema, theatre and leisure centre. Find out more from Churchill Retirement Living.
The Sidings
There is also just one current opportunity to buy at The Sidings, a scheme of houses and apartments for over-55s in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, from Beechcroft. No.10 is a two-bedroom house on the market for £460,000, which features a dining room, drawing room and sunroom, separated by glazed double doors which you can fold back to provide entertaining space. Both the sunroom and the dining room open onto private terraces – ideal for morning coffee or after dinner drinks. Like all homes here, the well-designed kitchen comes with plenty of cupboard space and a full range of integrated appliances. Underfloor heating which leaves walls ‘radiator-free’ giving flexibility when placing furniture
Located on Station Road in the village of Wheatley, these homes are well placed for the excellent range of local shops, which includes a butcher’s, an artisan bakery, supermarket, convenience stores, a pharmacy, post office, hairdressing salon, café and several pubs. There are also community facilities. Major out-of-town store and Oxford city centre are all within a few miles of home. Find out more at www.beechcroft.co.uk.
Riverstone Kensington
For a real taste of luxury Riverstone Kensington could be the answer, being located in one of London’s most sought-after districts and offering a suitable quality of property and lifestyle in a collection of one, two and three-bedroom apartments.
These contemporary-design homes are situated just a few blocks from Holland Park and Kensington High Street. Many of the properties overlook beautiful gardens which have been designed for relaxation and exercise, with the view enhanced with the floor-to-ceiling window design. The tranquillity of the gardens extends into the curved library, lounge and reception area. The exercise studio, vitality pool and cinema are also on hand to provide relaxation and a chance to mingle with neighbours.
There’s a 24-hour concierge and a dedicated care manager and residents have access to 24/7 bespoke care services, should they be required.
One-, two- and three-bedroom apartments offer between 636 sq ft and 1,746 sq ft of living space. Prices currently range from £1.115million to £3million. Apartments will be available to move in from spring 2022. Viewings can be made by appointment. Find out more at www.riverstoneliving.com.