Property

Older buyers go seaward

Edith Fordham may not know it, but she is helping to lead resurgence in retired buyers moving to the British seaside. Edith, who is in her seventies, has recently moved to a cottage in the West Sussex coastal village of Middleton-on-Sea. “Living close to the sea has always appealed to me. I’ve always had a soft spot for Middleton-on-Sea. It is just a short distance away from the beaches,” she says.

            Until the 1980s it was as huge ambition of retirees to move to the coast, but then the tradition got a knock as many older buyers starting purchasing properties  in the newly regenerated city centres, to make the most of improved shops, theatres and restaurants.

            But now it appears to be business as usual again, because new research by the over-fifties magazine Yours shows most of Britain’s 10 favourite retirement locations are by the sea.

            Skegness, complete with its bracing North Sea wind, comes a comfortable first. With the likes of Llandudno, the Shetland Isles Exmouth, in Devon, and Poole, in Dorset, close behind.

            Edith Fordham got her home through Economic Lifestyle (08000433366), a firm that buys and then leases out properties built by retirement sector specialists such as McCarthy&Stone.

            It reports a surge in demand for homes on the coast, a trend reflected also by house-builders who are piling in to construct large numbers of specialist retirement schemes in ports.

            “The coast remains a really popular choice. A lot of people like to retire to where they have friends that they have made on holiday, or where they have good memories of summer breaks earlier in their life. The attractions of Devon and Cornwall and the like remain strong,” says Suzanne Revell, of Churchill Retirement Living (08007837661).

            Like many retirement builders, the firm is expanding its work on the coast – of its 12 schemes on sale across the UK, six are in ports, from Seaton, in Devon, through the south coast and on to Kent.

            The very best retirement schemes from any developer will adopt a vernacular style to give the homes a still more coastal feel, and ramp up the luxury to show buyers that retiring does not have to mean sacrificing quality.

            For example, between Dover and Deal sits a court-yard development of 10 retirement homes called Knoll court, in the small town of Cliffe.

            Designed by the Canterbury architect Clague and built by the local firm Bourne Developments, they include flint-faced cottages and a weather-board Kentish coach house.

Meanwhile, in a 20-acre park overlooking the north Norfolk coast, Sheringham House  is an example of how sophisticated retirement housing can be today.

Each property has two, three or four bedrooms, and has secure underground car parking, and access to a snooker room and an indoor heated swimming pool, plus the communal parkland. Now some volume builders are joining the retirement road to the coast.

Firms such as Banner Homes, which usually builds flats and houses in the mainstream market, has the Terrace, in Southampton, where 25 apartment are designed exclusively for the over-55 age group.

But buyers have to pay handsome premiums for the good location, build-quality and practical convenience of specialist retirement housing.

For example, in the year to July, retirement apartments’ prices rose by 11.53 per cent, according to the retirement estate agency Retirement Homesearch, (0845880 5560).

Figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister show that mainstream house prices increased by only 4 percent in the same period.

“For many years, we’ve seen  retirement property increase significantly, often at a faster rate than the general market, due to the increasing demographic demand. This is excellent news for existing retirement property owners and represents a good opportunity for potential purchasers,” says Martin James, of Retirement Homesearch.

Certainly, the retirement sector is growing faster than any other in the housing market, despite the high costs of buying.

Remember, too, that estate agents say any retirement property that enjoys a genuine sea view will have an additional premium – 40 to 50 per cent in the South-west and areas of southern England around Brighton, for example,  and 20 to 25 per cent around less fashionable areas such as Scarborough and Colwyn Bay.

“We and all retirement developers will look at any plots, on the coast ot inland, if they suit our list of needs for the demographics of buyers. The average age of our purchasers is 74, so all of our homes must be within half a mile of a doctor, a chemist, a supermarket and the like,” says Suzanne Revell.

“The trick is that if we can get all of those factors in a coastal location too, then we know that the development will be popular. These developments do sell very well – the coast is still a favourite for retirement.”           

The Independent 2005 Wednesday 26 October P. 16

Topical vocabulary

Be a huge ambition of somebody to move to the coast

Start purchasing properties in the newly regenerated city centres

Lease out  properties

Remain a really popular choice

Retire to where one has friends

Have good memories of summer breaks

Expand its work on the coast

Adopt a vernacular style

Give the homes a still more coastal feel

 Flint-faced cottages

Sophisticated retirement housing

Have secure underground car parking

Access to a snooker room and indoor heated swimming pool

Communal parkland

Pay for the good location, build-quality and practical convenience of specialist housing

Apartments’ prices

The increasing demographic demand

Represent a good investment opportunity for potential purchasers