FAQs - Our response to Coronavirus

We’ve redesigned our processes from viewings to moving in going beyond the basic guidelines to ensure our potential new residents, existing homeowners, and staff stay as safe as possible. We do this by:

1. Providing virtual information

We’re offering ‘virtual tours’ to reduce unnecessary visits.

2. Managing viewings safely

Viewings are carefully managed to be a safe experience by our Sales teams or House / Estate Managers for private sales.

3. Checking the health of visitors

Customers are required to complete a questionnaire to check that they don’t have any Covid-19 symptoms. In addition, they may have their temperature taken on arrival – if anyone has a high temperature, they will be asked to return home and re-book once their temperature has returned to normal.

4. Hygiene

Like all visitors, everyone attending a viewing will be asked to wash their hands upon arrival or use hand sanitiser. We will also be encouraging them to wear a face covering, though this is not mandatory.

You can sell / let your McCarthy Stone home, but we will ask you to take some extra precautions to keep everyone safe during viewing etc. Please speak to your House / Estate Manager – they can give you a copy of our new guide to sales / lettings. Our specialist Resales team are on hand to help you, but if you choose to use an independent estate agent, please give them a copy of the guide.

Everyone in the UK is at risk of coronavirus, but as our retirement communities are for people over 60 , our homeowners are more vulnerable.

Their health and well-being are our utmost priority and we monitor international and local developments around COVID-19 very closely.

We have taken many steps to reduce the risk of infection across our retirement communities, in many cases going beyond Government guidance to do so. This includes the introduction of new hygiene and social policies.

While our homeowners live independently, we provide them with significantly higher levels of help, support and guidance than if they lived alone. Our Retirement Living PLUS developments have teams on site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, while our Retirement Living developments have on-site support during the week and a dedicated out-of-hours helpline.

We are in close contact with our homeowners and our on-site House and Estate Managers to ensure everyone has access to support and the latest guidance from Public Health authorities to help us create as safe an environment as possible.

We have put in place new procedures to reduce the risk of infection across our communities. We’re following Public Health England guidelines but have also introduced  additional measures across all our developments. Our procedures are evolving all the time, but they include:

• Infection control cleaning in Retirement Living PLUS developments
• Reopening some of our guest suites with increased cleaning.
• A new partnership with Morrisons to offer grocery shopping by telephone for people who are unable to access online shopping

Our homeowners make their own choices. However, in line with Public Health guidelines, we support homeowners to self-isolate or shield themselves if they need to.

If you are a homeowner, please contact your House or Estate Manager in the first instance, if possible. If this is not possible, please call us on 0800 185 5588.

Our House and Estate Managers check in with homeowners regularly, as part of their usual duties.

We’ve made sure all homeowners have access to our volunteering schemes and our partnership with Morrisons to help them get essentials if needed and to make sure they are well.

On Retirement Living PLUS developments, where we have care staff, we are committed to providing the very highest level of service and care that we can.  

In line with Public Health guidelines, we have advised our homeowners to self-isolate if they experience any symptoms of Coronavirus or live with someone who does, they should request a test.

Our House and Estate Managers are in regular contact with homeowners, either on site or on the phone.  

Some of our Retirement Living PLUS homeowners receive additional care from us. If necessary, we will continue to provide that care while a homeowner is self-isolating, following specific Government guidance to stay safe.

We’ve worked with Morrisons to tailor their new easy-to-use telephone ordering service for our retirement communities. Homeowners get exclusive free next day delivery and a free bunch of flowers with their first order.   

In the event that self-isolation of our staff causes staff shortages, we have contingency plans in place. Many of our head office staff and building teams have volunteered to provide cover for our House and Estates Managers if needed, and we can also provide remote support.

From January 2020 up to the 27th October, 111 of our 20,000 homeowners have had confirmed cases of COVID-19. We believe the majority of these homeowners did not pick-up COVID-19 in our developments, and that the incidence of the virus being spread by neighbours or staff has been very low.

Infection rates within our communities are 27% than the over 65's UK population and four times lower than the over 85's.*

*From January 2020 up to the 27th October 2020, 111 of our 20,000 homeowners have had confirmed cases of COVID-19

McCarthy Stone does not offer a care home service. People who move into care homes are dependent on care. We offer elegant private apartments or bungalows with their own front door, designed for, and exclusive to, active older people. While some of our developments can offer bespoke personal care, for most homeowners this is about future-proofing when they move in.

Our homeowners have benefited from the protection of their own apartments, while the measures we have taken to keep the communal areas safe and protect against loneliness and isolation have resulted in a safer, and happier, environment.

We focused our efforts to keep homeowners as safe and happy as they could be under the Government’s restrictions.

 We are continuously adapting our procedures according to Government guidance.

To help keep homeowners safe, over 98% of our developments have been staffed every working day during the crisis despite potential staff sickness or holidays. 

We created incident management teams and processes for every case where a homeowner or member of staff has potentially caught COVID-19 to prevent its spread.

To increase well-being and prevent feelings of isolation we’ve:

• Created a volunteering programme – around 400 of our staff volunteered to support developments and homeowners in their own time
• Nationally we’ve provided entertainment to increase morale – including fitness ideas and online talks
• Locally our managers were proactive and creative in providing events including balcony birthday celebrations, virtual coffee mornings/happy hours and fish and chip nights
• Our IT support team  created a service to get non tech-savvy homeowners online.

Yes, in line with government advice, we are open – safely - for business as usual. We’ve redesigned our processes from viewings to moving in going beyond the basic guidelines to ensure our customers, existing homeowners, and staff stay as safe as possible. Call 0800 211 4811 to book. 

Please do not visit our developments if you, or anyone you live with, have any symptoms of Covid-19: a high temperature, a new persistent cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, however mild.

 Yes. In line with government advice there are no restrictions on visits to our developments in England.

Different rules are currently in place in Scotland and Wales, but as the situation is developing very quickly it is worth checking the government website for rules in your area: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Please do not visit our developments if you, or anyone you live with, have any symptoms of Covid-19: a high temperature, a new persistent cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, however mild.

Yes. In line with the Government's advice there are no restrictions on visitors to our developments in England.

Different rules are currently in place in Scotland and Wales, but as the situation is developing very quickly it is worth checking the government website for rules in your area: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

Please do not visit our developments if you, or anyone you live with, have any symptoms of Covid-19: a high temperature, a new persistent cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, however mild.

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging for everyone and we understand that our homeowners’ families and friends will be worried. We are committed to providing the best possible care and service to all our homeowners.

All of our front-line staff are asked to complete Covid-19 tests twice per week – these are PCR tests for care staff and lateral flow tests for all other staff, administered through the appropriate government testing schemes.

Colleagues providing regulated personal care and support (in our Retirement Living Plus developments) are required to wear appropriate PPE; including masks, gloves and in some cases gowns and eye-protection, in line with the current government rules.

All other colleagues, including those not providing personal care and support, are advised to follow the government guidance and wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces, or at any other time if they feel more comfortable wearing one.

The rules on close contact with individuals who have Covid-19 are set out in regulation, and our colleagues work with Public Health England to assist with contact tracing where appropriate.

The Government has updated their advice to allow people to move home and to permit the sale/rental of properties to take place. McCarthy Stone has fully updated its working practices to ensure our homeowners, potential homeowners and colleagues stay as safe as possible. At this point we are able to help with all sales and moving enquiries.

Please visit: Response to Covid-19 to learn more.

Everyone should consider their own personal circumstances. However we believe our developments offer a safe and supported environment in which to live, and this has been true throughout the crisis.

The protective measures and social support we continue to offer mean we believe that many people would feel safer and happier in our properties, than they would do in their current home.