Anchor and McCarthy Stone to develop £40m retirement community – LaingBuisson

Plans for a £40m ‘affordable for all’ retirement community have been published by Anchor and McCarthy Stone.

The development will be the sixth retirement community to be brought forward as part of the partnership between the two organisations, taking the total number of properties for older people they will develop together to more than 600.

Their partnership offers a range of tenures, including home and shared ownership and social rent.

The development in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, will provide 138 retirement apartments, including 53 properties for sale for those aged 60 and over, and 85 affordable homes.

It will have flexible care and support available on-site, indoor communal facilities, car parking and a courtyard and gardens.

‘Our plans provide a fantastic opportunity to deliver much-needed housing for older people across the affordability spectrum while also regenerating a central, brownfield site,’ John Tonkiss, chief executive of McCarthy Stone.

‘The location is highly sustainable, close to local shops and services, and with public transport routes into Birmingham and across the region.’

Jane Ashcroft, chief executive of Anchor, 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. Our partnership with McCarthy Stone will help us to achieve these aims.’

A planning application is expected later this year.

In December, Paul Teverson, director of communications at McCarthy Stone, told a committee of MPs the retirement communities sector had ‘historically failed’ to meet the needs of the middle market, specifically in areas of the Midlands and the North.