Legal & General’s retirement village operator, Inspired Villages has been given the go-ahead to deliver a £100m retirement community in Sonning Common, South Oxfordshire
The Sonning Common retirement scheme will provide 133 age-appropriate properties, as well as communal facilities open to residents and the local community. These will include a restaurant, cafe, hairdressers, cinema, library and craft rooms.
The scheme will also deliver a wellness centre comprising a swimming pool, steam room, sauna, two treatment rooms and a gym with a fitness studio.
Inspired Villages aims to improve the holistic wellbeing of the over 65s and support them in living healthier, independent lives for longer.
The development will also provide further benefit to the local area by creating over 100 construction jobs, and in excess of 40 operational jobs for the local economy once complete.
‘Delivering age-appropriate homes’
Neal Dale, development director at Inspired Villages, said: “Achieving planning permission for our Sonning Common community is a huge win for us and an important step in our portfolio expansion, allowing us to provide suitable housing for over 65s in the South Oxfordshire area.
“We know the demand for age-appropriate homes is there, and receiving the green light from the Planning Inspectorate allows us to continue to support the physical and mental wellbeing of older people across the UK.
“I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this process and supported us.”
Phil Bayliss, CEO of Later Living at Legal & General and chairman of Inspired Villages, added: “As we have seen over the last 15 months, isolation and loneliness has become one of the most common issues faced by over 65s in the UK.
“Within the later living sector we are now seeing increased demand for appropriate housing that meets the needs of retirees both physically and mentally.
“As lockdown starts to lift, it’s a pivotal time for retirees reconsidering how they’d like to spend what can be the best years of their lives and this latest planning permission is a welcomed step forward in our ability to accelerate the growth of a new generation of purpose-built housing, bringing them to communities across the UK.”
