- One and two-bedroom apartments
- Independent living in private apartments
- House Manager and emergency call system
- Shared lounge and landscaped gardens
- Built to Lifetime Homes standards
- Shared communal lounge
Transforming land into thriving communities for older people
McCarthy Stone is the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities.
Our retirement villages and developments enrich the lives of our customers and their families offering independence, safety, care services, friendship and peace of mind. With an ageing population our communities are essential for easing both the housing crisis and the pressure on care services. Quality and service are integral to everything we do.
Why choose us? McCarthy Stone makes it easy
With decades of expertise and experience in buying sites and obtaining planning permission, you can rely on us for a smooth, straightforward and quick acquisition process even for challenging sites. We pay a generous commission for all successful introductions too. We have won multiple awards and are the only developer to achieve five star customer satisfaction ratings from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) each year since the award began.
- We currently manage 540+ developments
- We have c21,500+ older people living in our communities
- We purchased 46 sites last year and have acquired over 200 sites in the last five years
- We’ve invested over £150m in land in 2023
- 97% of the site we acquire are brownfield
We buy land for three types of retirement communities
Retirement Living - apartments for over 60s.
Retirement Living PLUS - assisted living for over 70s.
- One and two-bedroom apartments
- 24-hour on-site staff delivering flexible care packages
- Domestic assistance
- Wheelchair accessible throughout
- Restaurant/bistro with on-site kitchen
- Care Quality Commission-registered
Retirement bungalows for over 55s.
- Exclusively for people aged 55 and above
- One, two and three-bedroom retirement bungalows
- Emergency call system
- Independent living in private retirement bungalows
- Often part of a retirement village
- Built to Lifetime Homes standards.
What kind of land do we buy?
We consider every type of land deal, whether unconditional purchase, conditional contract, or option agreement. And we’re not shy of a challenge – we’ll always consider ‘difficult sites’. Although we do have preferences.We prefer to buy land that:
- Is within half a mile/easy walk to shops and amenities
- Has good public transport links
- Centrally located, typically brownfield land
- Covers 0.75 to 1.5 acres (0.3 to 0.6 hectares)
- Close to amenities with level access
- Offers scope for a three-storey (or higher) development
Examples of good potential sites:
- Local authority surplus car parks or buildings
- Police and fire stations
- Garages
- Car dealerships
- Care homes
- Office buildings
- Sports grounds
- Garden centres
- Depots
- Hotels
- Areas of larger sites owned by house builders
Our stand on sustainability
Respect for the environment and biodiversity is important to us and our ambition is to divert 99% of our waste from landfill across all sites and be 100% Considerate Constructors. We use more environmentally friendly Modern Methods of Construction in many of our builds and have a clear sustainability policy.
Case study: Incorporating a war memorial at Centennial Place
The Knutsford and District War Memorial Cottage Hospital opened in 1922 to commemorate World War I. In 1996, it became a British Red Cross HQ and in 2016 they sold the land to McCarthy Stone. The local community was keen to keep spirit of the hospital alive and although it was demolished in 2022 to create our new retirement housing, we’ve respected their wishes.
As you approach Centennial Place, you’ll appreciate its thoughtful design. The red brickwork and grey pitched roofs complement the town’s character. At the entrance, and open to all, the original statue plinth forms the focal point for the new memorial gardens which has a blue plaque and information board to keep its history alive. A tree lined route leads you to the entrance of the new retirement development, which is now a thriving and happy community.