Retirement Villages Group (RVG), owned by French insurance group Axa, is targeting more than 40 sites across UK. It has secure planning approval for sites in Chester and West Byfleet.
RVG developments are aimed at the over-65s. It already has 16 sites in the UK, generally self-contained and many of them in grand old mansions. It is now moving towards creating urban schemes that are more integrated with local communities.
Its latest planning approvals are for a 拢110m retirement community in central West Byfleet, Surrey, and a new 拢65m community in Chester.聽
The first site will see an empty 1960s office block and shopping precinct in West Byfleet replaced with 195 apartments for retirement living. It will include retail units and a community space around a village square.
The second site is an urban development of 147 retirement homes in Chester which represents RVG鈥檚 first move into the northwest. The site is 10 minutes from the city centre, and next to a Park & Ride service.
Building work on both sites is expected to start this summer.
RVG chief executive Will Bax said: 鈥淣ew generations of older people will prize independence, security and community connections more than any other. Increasingly they are looking for a lifestyle choice that promotes independent living and keeps them fit and active for longer. The current options for people looking to downsize are not good enough. We want to change that by putting older people back at the heart of our communities and building homes that enable them to live rich, connected lives safe in the knowledge that support is available when, but not before, they need it.鈥�
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