McCarthy Stone to deliver 1,500 affordable retirement homes

McCarthy Stone has received funding from Homes England, the UK Government’s housing delivery agency in England, to deliver 1,500 new affordable, shared ownership properties over the next five years.

The £94 million grant funding will be the first investment in the private retirement sector ever made by Homes England, which has given McCarthy Stone’s shared ownership arm strategic partnership status.

The funding will enable the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities to deliver on its goal of providing more choice and affordability and increasing the number of older people who can enjoy the benefits of retirement living.

McCarthy Stone, which manages over 450 retirement communities around the UK, launched its multi-tenure strategy in 2019 and already around a third of its transactions are for private rent or private shared ownership. Affordable shared ownership will now complement this offering.

“We are delighted to be appointed as a strategic partner by Homes England and this marks another important step in our commitment to address the growing demand for specialist retirement housing in the UK,” said John Tonkiss, chief executive,  McCarthy Stone.

Affordable retirement housing key to UK ‘levelling up’ agenda

The new 1,500 affordable units, of which 25% will be delivered by modern methods of construction (MMC), will be both developed and managed by McCarthy Stone. They will be delivered nationwide, with the majority in the Midlands and North of England.

“Affordable retirement housing is essential to meet the government’s wider levelling up agenda,” said Tonkiss. “The 1,500 units this partnership will deliver will improve the lives of more older people across more price points, and bring vital economic activity to the areas that need it most.”

McCarthy Stone has built over 58,000 properties across over 1,300 retirement development since its foundation in 1977. Its aim has been to provide older people with more affordable choice when it comes to retirement housing and give them the opportunity to live in a more supported environment, including on-site care, the group said.

Homes England said it aims to establish a large network of organisations looking to share their skills and capabilities to expand the affordable housing sector and transform communities.

Retirement communities are proven to have significant socio-economic benefits, the company said, helping older people feel happier and healthier while freeing up the housing market and boosting local communities.

“These strategic partnerships give our new partners the funding, flexibility, and confidence they need to build much needed affordable homes across the country”, said Peter Denton, chief executive, Homes England.