Modern retirement villages boast everything from corner shops to swimming pools

mail on sunday 6 april 2014

Downsizing from a family home to a retirement property can be a difficult business.

Fears about settling into a new community cause many people to postpone such a move or even cancel it completely – so in response to this, retirement villages are now offering ‘try-before-you-buy’ schemes.

At Letcombe Regis in Oxfordshire, the location of one of five retirement communities operated by Richmond Villages, potential purchasers can spend a few days ‘on retreat’ to find out what living there permanently might be like.

Those who ‘try before they buy’ can use the development’s IT and craft rooms, library, bowling green and kitchen garden, complete with greenhouse.

There is also a restaurant, café and a spa, which includes a gym, pool, treatment areas and a hair salon. Guests ‘on retreat’ have the same access to the facilities as full-time residents do.

With Letcombe Regis’s shop having stone walls and a thatched roof – and with the buildings centred around a green – the community really does resemble a village.

Ann Savage, 87, a retired GP, went to stay at Letcombe Regis retirement village in 2012 with her husband Paul, who has since died.

‘I had been quite ill,’ she says. ‘I’d had an infection of some kind so my husband and I came to Letcombe Regis for a week, just for a break.’

The couple liked it so much they put their house in London on the market and bought an apartment there.

‘Paul was 97 when he died last November and he was marvellously looked after in the care home here,’ adds Ann.

‘I can’t speak too highly of them and of course for me it was lovely because I didn’t have to go and visit him in a hospital. I could visit him whenever I wanted, for as long as I wanted. I think the staff in the care home are really brilliant.’

Ann says her only complaint is that there isn’t a booklet for residents detailing the many activities on offer such as Scrabble, art classes, tai chi sessions, film nights, discussion groups and live performances.

Residents can also take advantage of genealogy workshops, singing sessions and trips to museums, stately homes and the theatre.

When asked what the other residents are like, Ann says: ‘It’s like society, it’s a mixed bunch.’

Her apartment comprises a sitting room, bedroom, shower room and a small kitchen. ‘And there’s a very nice view out on to the brook,’ she adds.

What sets this retirement village apart from others is that on one side of the complex is a beautiful lake, fed by the stream Ann mentions, Letcombe Brook. Barbara Przydatek, retreat co-ordinator at Letcombe Regis, is keen to emphasise how much freedom residents have to personalise their homes.

‘It’s their apartment,’ she says. ‘Short of making holes in walls – I mean big holes – they can do what they like.

‘Most people don’t repaint the rooms, they just hang up their pictures and move their furniture in. The only thing is that most apartments have a wet room with a shower and some people want a bath.’

Ann’s apartment feels quite individual, with South African art on the walls, reflecting her years working in hospitals there.

Although the property is small, Ann points out that it suits someone like her who walks with a frame.

The number of ‘try-before-you-buy’ apartments at Letcombe Regis has risen from one to six, and the other Richmond Villages in the country – at Painswick in Gloucestershire; Nantwich in Cheshire; Northampton; and Bede Village, between Coventry and Bedworth in Warwickshire – now have dedicated apartments for people to experience the Richmond lifestyle.

Letcombe Regis has a variety of homes and care packages tailored to individual requirements, from basic maid service to 24-hour nursing care. The apartments available there are currently priced from £275,000.

Guests can stay ‘on retreat’ on a full-board, half-board or self-catering basis from £160 a night on a single occupancy basis for three nights.

The Richmond Villages try-before-you-buy scheme began with people renting apartments for a few days to visit relatives living in the village, and Barbara is very pleased with the various ways in which the scheme has helped people.

‘Not only has it been successful for people who have been interested in moving to a retirement village, but also for families who have realised that one or both of their parents could do with a little more assistance but have found the parents resistant to moving.

'They can bring them here and show them what it’s actually like to put their minds at rest.

‘I have experienced a number of occasions such as this which have resulted in the parents realising it is a positive move. You wouldn’t believe the number of times that I have then heard the phrase, “I wish we had made the move earlier!” ’