Be cautious about buying McCarthy and Stone!

SarahB16

Hoenir said:

As with hospices. These establishments are people intensive. On call 24 wardens for example cost money. Last year's budget ramped up the cost of employing people significantly. Just another unintended consequence of the policy. 

I agree.  That is why I was interested to hear if what was being built was more of a multi-generational community was being built which may lead to people supporting their neighbours as they get older.

Most people wish to continue living in the same place or at least in the same community without the need to move away when they get older.  This is why I think housing schemes should have a mix of properties to enable people to move to smaller properties but still within the same community or even road as they get older.  Great if there is some sort of community hub too.   

There are better housing standards these days in terms of homes being adaptable and if a person can live independently in their own home for the rest of their life (which is what most people want) with the support of neighbours and friends there is no need for them to move into retirement village type places (e.g. Audley) or lower end (such as McCarthy Stone or Churchill) as they are still expensive in terms of their service charges.  

I think there are many 'Good Neighbours' community groups set up across the country and hopefully this is all that some people may need as they get older but I do appreciate that some people will need a higher level of care and support.

My personal opinion is that people do need suitable housing options for when they get older but I don't see what is being provided at the mid-market level, i.e. we have housing association/registered providers or Audley Village/McCarthy Stone/Churchill but I can't see what is being offered between those two extremes? 

The cost of adult social care is getting higher and higher and we are all paying for this via our council tax (which I don't object to) but if housing was developed in such a way that there was more 'natural' adult social care from simply being neighbourly then the cost may be lower but the housing needs to be built such that it creates these communities where people can live for their whole life so they know their neighbours and will wish to help and look out for each other.