Not the retiring type!
From music festivals to posh restaurants, retirement villages are now buzzing
TODAy’S retirees want to be connected to the town, family, friends and not feel left out on a limb.
Retirement villages are therefore shifting their focus from building homes to creating lifestyles which extend way beyond bricks and mortar. Consequently, their buzzword is ‘community’.
Jonty Roots, managing director of brand and research agency Boomer & Beyond, which focuses on homebuyers aged over 55, says that most older people want to stay in their existing area, but live an easier, lower maintenance life by moving to a retirement community.
Last year, Inspired Villages became the first retirement developer to stage a music festival. Parkfest, as it was called, was held at 78-acre Great Alne Park in Warwickshire and was designed to celebrate the opening of its clubhouse, where facilities including a swimming pool, cinema and library are open to the local community. Plans are now under way to stage The Grand Antiques Tour in March where residents and locals can have curios and antiques valued by BBC TV presenters Christina Trevanion and Timothy Medhurst, inspiredvillages.co.uk.
At Audley’s retirement villages, restaurants are open to all. Audley St George’s Place is popular with the business community and Symonds, the restaurant at its newest development, Redwood in Bristol, has received rave reviews.
In the same vein, a successful Classic Cars event was held last
year at Audley Chalfont Dene, audleyvillages.co.uk.
John Allan, managing director at Legal & General Homes which is developing a scheme of 1,000 properties in Crowthorne, Berkshire, believes communities work best when they’re made up of mixed groups.
‘The intention at Buckler’s Park is for places like the primary school and the care home to come together with ideas such as concerts, art shows and volunteering opportunities,’ he says. The development includes one-andtwo bedroom apartments and two- bedroom houses from £329,000, bucklerspark.co.uk.
PegasusLife’s retirement schemes employ hosts who organise community projects, trips to London, volunteering and membership to clubs and organisations. Prices start from £ 320,000 for one- bedroom apartments at Carriages in Purley, £348,950 at Steepleton in Tetbury and £367,000 at Chapelwood in Wilmslow ( pegasuslife.co.uk).
Feeling involved in the world beyond the front door can boost wellbeing, too. Retired chartered surveyor Sandy Copland, 83, bought a two-bedroom penthouse at LifeCare’s Residences’ Battersea Place two years ago.
HIShome overlooks leafy Battersea Park and is a bus ride from Chelsea’ s King’s Road. He loves to entertain and has a busy life as a volunteer.
‘I am a sidesman in St Paul’s Cathedral, secretary of the library committee at the Royal Air Force Club and involved with several livery companies,’ he explains.
‘I also love to entertain friends — they will come up to my apartment for a drink and we will go down to the restaurant for lunch.’
Marcus Evans, of Crest Nicholson Regeneration, says the focus of its Bath Riverside development is all about creating a community for its older residents.
‘We are focused on building more than just homes, but rather longlasting communities for everyone,’ he says.
One and two-bedroom waterfront apartments from £585,000 (