Inspired Villages - The Future Of Later Living
Nestled in the heart of Cheshire’s glorious countryside, is Inspired Villages latest contemporary retirement development, Gifford Lea. Much the same as all their developments Gifford Lea is outstanding in terms of design, environment, amenities, leisure, and care.
Inspired Villages are unapologetic about the luxury and services they provide to the modern retiree. On entering their latest swanky retirement development, any outdated ideas you may have about what a retirement village looks like are swept away. Gifford Lea strikes you as more resort than retirement community with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a luxury retreat on offer to its residents. Gifford Lea boasts wellness spas, relaxation pools, saunas, restaurants, bars, cinemas, art suites, business suites, boutiques, and hair salons. The place has an air of sophistication, it’s vibrant, and there’s a little hustle and bustle. In fact, the only thing that gives Gifford Lea away as a retirement village are the ‘Silver Foxes’ and bang on trend ‘Snow Kittens’.
With just under 13 million people in the UK aged 65 and over, the lack of focus on social and retirement housing is a cause for concern. Politicians and parliamentary groups have been waffling on about the subject for far too long. Telling us that lack of political action will only intensify the UK’s housing crisis, particularly for those in later life. While the three major political parties continue to waffle and hand out earnest hypotheticals on how best to deal with Britain’s ageing populous. All three are yet to take any action to meet our over 65's present and future housing needs.
While government does what it does best, which is shuffle Green Papers. Its' been left to developers like Inspired Villages to reinvent retirement living and later life accommodation across the board. Inspired Villages have never offered the misguided one size fits all model others in the industry still do. As a company, they’ve tapped into the fact that the future of later life living overall will be quite different. People no longer disengage from the workforce completely when they retire. 10 years from now it's likely 40 to 50% of those living in retirement developments will still be working. They may even be heading into a third or fourth career. Where Inspired Villages have made the necessary changes to facilitate and accommodate the new retirement landscape, the retirement industry as a whole have been slow on the uptake.
When asked retirees say their top concerns when heading into retirement are outliving their savings, access to quality health care, and a limited potential to earn. To live well during retirement takes sound financial planning and investment. If you’re already retired, or you’re just thinking ahead. It’s worth noting Inspired Villages developments are not only incredible places to live, the properties themselves are a fantastic asset to add to an investment portfolio. Inspired Villages penthouses, apartments, bungalows and houses could provide you with a long-term income while offering excellent yields. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but with the UK’s over 65’s expected to number 1 in 4 by 2037, the impending change in the UK's demographic will certainly drive demand for retirement properties.
Looking around Inspired Villages latest development, you'd be forgiven for thinking retirement at Gifford Lea required rather deep pockets. However, as part of their expansion program, which will see the developer create 50 later living communities across the UK over the next 10 years, Inspired Villages have moved into the rental sector. Those who can’t stretch to buying at Gifford Lea can now rent privately while accessing the same facilities and conveniences other residents do.
Inspired Villages were recently crowned Retirement Living Operator of the Year at the prestigious RESI Awards 2019. It’s no surprise, as Inspired Villages are offering something most aren’t, something everyone wants retired or not, choice!
The relatively immature nature of the UK’s retirement sector still presents its challenges. However, Inspired Villages have managed to create a winning formula that meets the needs of today’s retirees. Inspired Villages sees retirement as a later life adventure. A chance to experience, grow, do, and become. This is echoed through all their developments and Gifford Lea is no exception.
Words by George~Carter Cunningham
