Should you choose a Retirement village or Sheltered Housing? How much can you afford?

Knowing what you want in retirement isn’t just important, it is today absolutely essential, given all the choices, and so many decisions that need to be made. But if you narrow it down to 2 categories being either Retirement Village or Retirement Home, or another term used is Sheltered Housing. The Retirement Village tends to be larger scale developments in semi-rural locations and are designed like a village with a central clubhouse like the local golf club perhaps. However, there is much, much more as there is also a shop, restaurant, cafe and other facilities such as swimming pools and health club/gyms. Here you can lead an active life and participate in yoga classes, wine-tasting and arts workshops. A Retirement Village also offers a full range and succession of care within the site. Typically, the Retirement Village will also have Care Workers and Nurses available 24/7 and the care you receive is based on and according to your own individual needs. In fact, some of these villages even have onsite Care homes that offer specialist dementia care or care for specific illnesses. However, in order to avoid some possible confusion, Retirement housing has fewer facilities and is often located in a city or town, and whilst they do not have onsite shops, they are just a short walk from a town centre. And offer apartments with a lounge, laundry and porter. And have someone on site to keep a watchful eye on residents and security. The care they receive might also not be provided or included. And so the service charges for this type of housing can be lower. Which of course when budgeting will appeal as why pay for the extra luxuries, if you are not going to be using them. The downside of a Retirement Village, as you may well expect is the cost. As particularly the service charges, which are somewhat higher, as they need to cover the building upkeep such as gardens, landscaping, building insurance and maintenance. Generally all bills are included, except for the Care and Utilities. McCarthy & Stone, our biggest builder of retirement homes, with approx. 70% of the market has said that it has delivered its strongest financial performance since the credit crisis started. McCarthy & Stone was made private in 2006. However, recently McCarthy & Stone reported a 12% growth in turnover in the year to the end of August 2012.