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IN YOUR INTEREST
22 | THE INVESTOR
golden years
How retirement communities are helping pensioners
to live life to the full with like-minded neighbours
By Jill Insley
I f the word‘retirement’ conjures
up images of rattling around in a
large family home, struggling to
manage the garden, the bills and,
eventually, the stairs, it may be
time for a rethink.Many of today’s retirees
are living life to the full, thanks to a new
way of retiring that is taking off in the UK.
Retirement communities or villages
are designed to enable people to
continue to live independently for as
long as first glance these
developments look like any others in
the UK: the properties are typically
one- or two-bedroom self-contained
flats or bungalows, usually within a gated
community. Look a bit closer and you
will notice special design details that
mean the properties can be adapted to
the needs of their occupants as they age.
Doorways are wider to allow
wheelchair access, bathroom walls are
strengthened to enable the fitting of
grab rails, there are walk-in showers
rather than baths, ovens are raised
for easy access and alarm buttons are
installed discreetly to enable residents
to summon help.
Residents have their own bathrooms and
kitchens, and can live in complete privacy
if they so choose. But it is the opportunity
to meet other people within a similar
age range that undoubtedly attracts most
buyers.AtWherry Court, a McCarthy &
Stone development of 49 apartments in
Thorpe StAndrew just outside Norwich,
apartment owners share an extensive and
well-maintained garden and a communal
living room.When I visited on a sunny
Tuesday afternoon, several residents had
congregated in the living room for a‘knit
and natter’ session. In the laundry room,
Battersea Place, by LifeCare Residences, Zack Canepari/Panos