Pop in to one of our welcoming events and discover why so many homeowners say they wish they'd done it sooner.
FAQs - Looking for a retirement housing
Looking for retirement housing? Find answers to common questions about finding the right retirement property and community for you.
McCarthy & Stone retirement properties are designed for independent senior living. While there’s help and support on offer, especially at our assisted living developments, our retirement housing is not suitable for people with significant care needs like advanced dementia. If that’s a concern, it’s important that buyers and their families understand the limit of the support McCarthy & Stone can offer. If McCarthy & Stone is unsure whether a would-be homeowner needs more support than we can offer, a care manager may ask to make a home visit to discuss their concerns or to speak to the customer’s GP.
If a homeowner develops dementia while living in our retirement housing, there’s a lot we can do to support them in living a happy and independent life. If they can no longer live safely in a retirement development, we will work with them and their family to help them move to a more specialised setting.
We do have brochures for our specific retirement housing developments. These can be ordered online if you go to the individual development page. If you're interested in a location but don't have a development in mind call 0800 201 4811 or contact us online for more information.
Yes. Most of our retirement developments are more than happy for you to move in with a well-behaved pet – most of our retirement rentals are pet friendly too. Call 0800 201 4811 for details, contact us online or read more about our pet-friendly policy.
It’s when you agree to buy a property before the development is completed (usually around 6 months before). This gives you the benefit of the first choice of McCarthy & Stone retirement properties and plenty of time to prepare. Buying a retirement property before it’s finished may sound daunting, but we’ll give you plenty of information, including floor plans, to help you visualise your new home. Read our off plan guide.
If you’re planning to move into a retirement property, we have a range of flexible options to suit your lifestyle and budget. As well as retirement homes for sale, we also offer retirement property to rent and shared ownership.
Yes. You can use lightweight motorised scooters (maximum speed 4 mph) inside our retirement communities. This type of scooter must be stored in your retirement property. Class 3 (maximum speed 8 mph) scooters can only be used outside. These are kept in the scooter storeroom – usually you can charge them in there too. Please note, spaces for scooters are limited and subject to availability. Conditions also apply depending on the development. The sales team will explain these to you.
From virtual tours to welcoming events and open days, the chance to talk to homeowners, personalised visits – or even overnight stays, our friendly sales team will walk you through all the viewing options available. Simply call us today on 0800 201 4811 to get started or alternatively book a visit or event online through your chosen retirement housing development page.
We are committed to supporting our customers and homeowners at every stage of their journey with us and we work hard to ensure our actions meet high standards of transparency and fairness. To do this, we sign up to the following bodies, codes of conducts and regulations to ensure our customers and homeowners are fully protected:
- The Property Ombudsman
- The Property Institute
- The Consumer Code for Home Builders
- Build UK (Client Member)
- The Property Factors Register (Scotland)
- Property Mark
- Rent Smart Wales
- The Regulator of Social Housing (Shared Ownership)
- The Housing Ombudsman (Shared Ownership)
- Care Inspectorate Scotland
- Care Quality Commission (England)
- Care Inspectorate Wales
You'll find the costs at our developments vary and this reflects the range of facilities and services on offer.
The Community Facilities Charge makes it easier for you to budget when choosing to make your move to a retirement development, as McCarthy & Stone take care of any large and unexpected building and maintenance costs.
The Community Facilities Charge accounts for any structural, mechanical or electrical replacements, windows, lifts or internal decoration when required.
In addition to a monthly service charge, on the sale of your property, you'll make a contribution to the development's Community Facilities Charge at 1.5% of the resale value per year of ownership, capped at 15%.
Our dedicated sales team can explain this to you in further detail before you reserve your apartment.
The safety of our homeowners is our top priority. On all the developments that we manage, we have robust maintenance programmes in place and take appropriate action whenever necessary. Read more information about all our fire safety measures.