L&G buys into retirement market

LEGAL & General has taken its first step into the retirement housing market by acquiring an existing operator with ambitions to build 3,000 homes for older people in the next five years.

The insurer has paid £40m for Inspired Villages, previously known as English Care Villages.

L&G said as well as taking over the group’s two existing villages, in Warwick and Cheshire, it was looking for further development sites. Inspired Villages had previously owned the two schemes with housing association Places for People.

The move is L&G’S first step into the lucrative retirement market: it estimates that there are 3.3m people who would like to downsize in the UK, but just 7,000 homes for older people were built last year.

Jamie Bunce, the chief executive of Inspired Villages, said the investment would allow it to “create positive environments where people can remain socially engaged, comfortable, safe and secure while they enjoy later life”.

Inspired Villages builds its schemes around a “village square”, with facilities for residents including libraries, restaurants and cafes. Homes are priced between £250,000 and £375,000.