‘I didn’t want the hassle of selling and buying’
The market for specialist retirement housing has evolved in recent years, to offer a growing diversity in the range of accommodation options for people in later life.
Birchgrove, the leading specialist retirement property developer plans, builds and operates senior housing solutions exclusively for rent and is the leading rental only developer and operator of retirement communities in the south-east.
The current housing options for people over 65 exclude a large section of those who don’t want to manage another house purchase. As a result, some people stay in their large family homes for longer than appropriate to their needs.
Birchgrove offers a new kind of assisted living that provides high-quality apartments where older people can live independently, but also be part of a community and have access to an array of communal facilities and services, such as, restaurant, wellness suite, club room, licensed bar, library and landscaped gardens.
Unlike most other retirement living developments in the UK, Birchgrove believes that renting a home instead of owning is the most liberating form of tenure, offering the benefits of independent living, whilst removing the complications of home-ownership.
The inclusive rent makes it easier to manage your finances. It is reviewed annually and covers all the large-ticket expenses like energy costs – electricity, heating and water – and many of the rising incidental costs that go along with owning your own home e.g. housekeeping, broadband, window cleaning, gardening, buildings insurance, security and a whole host more. Birchgrove don’t charge service charges, nor do they charge exit fees. All you pay is the rent and a one-off joining fee.
When Steven’s wife died, he decided to downsize and move to one of Birchgrove’s retirement communities. Steven said:
“I was living on my own and never would have considered moving out of the family home until I saw the Birchgrove hoardings. Nothing else came anywhere near Birchgrove, unless you wanted to buy and pay anything up to £500,000 for a flat – and word on the street is they are extremely difficult to get rid of”.
“One of the first hurdles I had to get over was renting. The word rent indicates nothing at the end and that’s not the way people of my generation think. However, I put it to my two boys, told them what I was thinking of doing and once they got over the initial shock and we’d looked at it together, they said “yes, it’s a very good idea”.
“I am in a different world now, very happy I moved here. I didn’t want the hassle of buying, selling and all that effort that goes with a house and garden. I’ve got what I had before but plus – and it’s a big plus.”
If you would like to find out more about living at a Birchgrove retirement community their helpful advisors will happily answer your questions.
To find out more, please contact the team on 020 3929 5599
or visit www.birchgrove.life