Estate Living Magazine Develop - Issue 44 August 2019 | Page 40

I N V E S T
&
d e v e l O P
ARE
SMALL-SCALE
RETIREMENT
DEVELOPMENTS
A VIABLE OPTION?
Retirement is the new buzzword in the residential development market, but building a retirement village
is an enormous undertaking with huge implications – it’s a much bigger deal than building a golf or eco
estate. So, is there room for small investors to cash in on this profitable sector?
Perhaps there is. We recently found an
interesting retirement facility that shows
some clever out-of-the-box thinking.
Elephant number 1
While some people choose to stay in the
homes they’ve always lived in, and age in
place, most people choose to downsize
in some way – to decrease the hassle and
expense of maintaining a big home, to have
more freedom, and fewer responsibilities.
But the one thing most people agree on is the
need to maintain their independence as long
as possible, which is why most retirement
villages offer cottages or apartments in which
people can continue to live completely
independently.
But the elephant in the cottage is that, well,
there is no elephant in the cottage – and no
other people either! In a nutshell, while most
villages do have a great sense of community,
it can be lonely at the end of the day when it’s
just you, your TV, and perhaps your cat, in your
– admittedly lovely – independent cottage
or flat. This is especially true for people who
have never lived alone until, for example, the
death of a spouse.
Reliving your student days
And that’s where places like Chapmans House
come in. It’s not a retirement village, and it’s
certainly not a retirement home. It’s more
like a student commune, but with somewhat
more mature grey-haired ‘roomies’.