McCarthy & Stone, the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities, and Anchor Hanover, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of specialist housing and care for people in later life, announce a development partnership which will see the country’s two leading retirement providers deliver a range of ‘affordable for all’ later living communities across England.
Providing high-quality housing across all tenures, this unique partnership, unmatched in the marketplace, will address the diverse needs of England’s growing ageing population at a time when it is most needed. The announcement, which has been welcomed by the Housing Minister, coincides with the United Nations’ International Day of Older Persons, which recognises the need to support an ageing population.
The partnership will initially deliver 482 units across five large-scale sites (which are currently owned by McCarthy & Stone and have planning consent) with an indicative gross development value of c.£125m. As part of the agreement, Anchor Hanover will pay a total of £67m for the development of 316 Extra Care apartments, aimed at those in greatest need of supported housing and care. McCarthy & Stone will act as turn-key developer to Anchor Hanover to deliver these apartments – of which 124 will be affordable rent and 192 will be shared ownership.
A further 166 Retirement Living units will be sold and managed by McCarthy & Stone on land adjacent to Anchor Hanover’s sites.
The partnership also meets the Government’s objectives of increasing housing supply and improving access to care and support for older people, and both companies will in future seek to expand upon the initial partnership through the identification of new opportunities to co-locate their respective products.
The first two of these developments are set to get underway in Hook, Hampshire and Hinckley, Leicestershire later this year with the next two developments located in Bingley, West Yorkshire, and Standish, Greater Manchester due to commence in early 2021. The final development will follow in Macclesfield, Cheshire later in 2021.
Housing Minister Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP said: “Around one-third of children born in the United Kingdom today can expect to celebrate their hundredth birthday and housing will have an important role to play in ensuring healthy and independent living as our society ages.
“I look forward to seeing this partnership result in more high-quality, affordable retirement properties that are not just homes, but strong communities too.”
John Tonkiss, Chief Executive of McCarthy & Stone said: “Now more than ever we need to better align adult social care policy with high-quality and ‘affordable for all’ retirement community solutions. This partnership is in addition to our current construction plans and forms part of our strategy to provide greater choice for customers, with different tenure options across the affordability spectrum. It marks an important step in our commitment to address this challenge while providing customers with greater choice and a more affordable product.”
Jane Ashcroft CBE, Chief Executive of Anchor Hanover said: “The changing needs of our ageing society mean demand for specialist housing and care is strong and growing across all price points.
“We have ambitious plans to provide more homes where people love living in later life and to do so more quickly. We’re keen to work with a range of partners to meet that demand and support the government’s objective of more accessible housing for older people.”
There is growing demand for retirement communities. There are currently 12.2 million people aged 65 or over, rising to 17.4m by 2043, representing a 43% increase. For those aged 85 or over, the increase will be larger, from 1.6m to 3.0m, representing an 87% increase. Research shows that 33% of those aged 65 or over are interested in moving, equating to c.4 million people.
