Legal & General has announced the expansion of its later living offering with the establishment of Guild Living a developer and operator of urban later living communities. Through Guild Living, it plans to deliver over 3,000 new homes over the next five years, equating to a Gross Development Value of around €2.3bn (£2bn).
Responding to increased urbanisation and the changing requirements of the UK’s over 65s, Guild Living will deliver a new class of urban retirement community across the UK’s towns and cities. Set in vibrant urban environments, the company will combine beautiful architecture with groundbreaking and academically-accredited wellness programmes to enable and enrich an independent, active later life. The company is currently launching two new sites in Bath and Epsom, which will offer 200 apartments, a restaurant, a physiotherapy gym and pool, consultant rooms for GP surgeries, a children’s nursery and retail space for local businesses – all of which will be open to the local community. Residents will live independently, with flexible and supportive care available if and when needed.
Phil Bayliss, CEO of Later Living at Legal & General and Chairman at Guild Living comments: “With over three million over 60s in UK seeking to downsize their homes, we see a €116bn (£100bn) investment opportunity. 84% of the UK population lives in urban areas and we expect retirees to continue to migrate to UK towns and cities to enjoy all the local amenities they have to offer as well as to be closer to their loved ones and transport links. We are establishing the Guild to address this staggering opportunity and tackle the NHS and care crisis head-on. This forms an excellent extension of Legal & General’s retirement ecosystem. Nobody knows UK pensioners better; we are the largest UK manager of pension scheme assets, have over three million DC pension scheme customers and pay over one million pensioners a month. Through Guild Living and together with our existing out-of-town offering, we will now be delivering over 7,000 later living homes over the next five years.”
Michael Eggington, CEO at Guild Living, comments: “Internationally, we have seen countless examples of how active, community-focused living can change people’s lives. Over 6% of over-65s in the US and Australia live in later living communities. This is in comparison to 0.6% of over-65s choosing a retirement community in the UK. In the likes of the US, New Zealand and Australia, the intrinsic link between housing and health is widely recognised. This support has helped retirement villages become a mainstream option for older demographics. Through our partnership with Legal & General, we are going revolutionise urban retirement communities in the UK. Legal & General’s respected and trusted brand is aligned with the principles that we want to bring to the later living sector. With the long-term investment, supported by a strong pipeline of sites, we are in a unique position to make a significant positive impact to tackling the UK’s chronic undersupply of age-specific housing in the UK.”
Eugene Marchese, Design and Innovation Director at Guild Living, said: “Our vision is to deliver a significant change to how our older generation live. We will create beautiful “age-friendly” environments that are activated by world leading wellness programmes and activities, designed to engage and connect our residents with family, friends and the greater community. “Each Guild Living community will be designed with innovative architecture, communal facilities, and academically accredited wellness programmes, that will stimulate our residents physically, socially and cognitively."
