Security with a 'get out more' clause

With beautiful gardens, 24-hour assistance and a safe, friendly ambience, retirement housing is no longer a last resort for the ageing, says Penny Jackson

Everything about the house and its setting in a small development seemed pretty well perfect. It was new, attractive and trouble-free, yet Margery Gloster wondered whether she would ever settle and hated the thought of moving there. "We were not used to living so close to other people and felt it was going to be very difficult. We were leaving behind a large detached house and garden and inevitably you lose a sense of privacy." Their initial doubts will have a familiar ring to anyone who has agonised about whether to move into a property designed for the retirement market.

Margery and her husband John spotted the site in Ickenham, Middlesex, a village they had lived in 30 years before, and out of curiosity went to see it as the first houses were built. "We thought it too expensive but, more important, we didn't feel ready to make that move. Two years later, after we had suffered ill-health, we thought it a good idea." It is six years since the Glosters moved to one of the houses built by English Courtyard, specialist developers of retirement housing. Their three-bedroom cottage is one of 21, plus four apartments, built close to shops and transport.

It did not take them long to warm to their new surroundings, says Margery Gloster, 80. "We look out on to the gardens, which are beautiful. We have a private patio and my husband has taken over a small piece of ground that nobody wants. But we realise we could have not coped any longer in our old home and I do think there is a danger that elderly people can hang on too long somewhere that has become a worry. It was brought home to me three years ago when I fell on holiday and broke my hip."

English Courtyard offers care in a neighbourly rather than nursing sense. Wardens are at the end of the phone and will help with chores and arrange any services that are needed. The houses themselves are designed with the flexibility to accommodate a live-in carer, but often a more pressing need is to demonstrate that bulky pieces of antique furniture can be fitted in.

In its position at the top end of the market, with prices starting at around £350,000, the company understands its target audience. By creating the feel of a country home and garden, they have touched a chord. For those who refuse to be separated from trowel and fork, they even offer allotments. Christopher Thornhill, managing director, says that quite often people only decide to move when their own gardens become too much. "The house can fall around their ears, but they cannot bear to see the garden neglected and full of weeds. There is a point where the place that has served you well, particularly in early retirement, suddenly goes into reverse."

He recognises that this can be hard to accept and that moving out spells the end of an era. There are those who will mentally tough it out even as they become physically more fragile. On one occasion an argument between mother and son over whether to buy a house went on for two days. "The son thought he was doing the right thing by buying it, but she refused to move. So that was the end of it."

The reverse can also be true, he says, especially where offspring have an "overriding interest in their inheritance". In fact, says Thornhill, resale values have almost exactly tracked the Nationwide Index over the past 20 years.

Nevertheless, between the two extremes is an increasing demand for secure, manageable and stylish homes. At English Courtyard, the usual qualifying age is 60, while at Beechcroft Developments it is 55. People choose to buy at the first opportunity for a range of different reasons, from using it as a secure UK base while travelling abroad to getting a foothold in a spot they intend to retire to eventually. By their nature, these developments are relatively small and situated in prosperous areas, and there is no shortage of keen buyers.

At Remenham Row in Henley, a house just yards from the Thames had so much interest that it went to competitive bids, selling for more than £500,000, some £40,000 more than the list price. The owners reckon it was a price worth paying for a unique position combined with peace of mind. Like others, they wanted to move closer to their families while retaining their independence. Frank King, the on-site secretary who acts as the eyes and ears of the community, observes that independence is more likely to continue for longer if they take the decision themselves to move. He finds that those who have been pushed into it by their families tend not to thrive to the same degree and never completely adjust to living so closely with others.

The annual service charges at retirement developments are inevitably higher than places without an element of care, but buyers are still advised to check out thoroughly what £3,000 might provide, for example. Some offer only a minimum of maintenance and warden cover, while others will reflect a ritzy hierarchy of reception staff and services that people may well not use. The cost of running a swimming pool for instance may be an underused facility. Research that English Courtyard conducted a few years ago found that buyers worried about the escalation of such costs.

At Church Place, Margery Gloster makes use of the listed barn that has been converted for the use of residents. The events they hold there four or five times a year replicate life in a small village yet no one is forced to live in each other's pocket. "We enjoy each others' company but can also rely on our neighbours. When they are needed everyone rallies round."

For details on current developments visit www.englishcourtyard.co.uk or www.beechcroft.co.uk