Healthcare Vital Signs

Tipped to be the fastest growing healthcare sector in the next decade, demand for sites in the south-west remains strong. There are three main drivers here: good underlying residential values, the south-west being a popular region for retirees and existing stock being dated and not fit for purpose. The latter is true of retirement schemes across the country as most were built in the 1970/80s and no longer meet the expectations of the current retirement generation. The widening gap between demand (huge) and supply (low) has led to rising sales values on retirement schemes as older people seek to find ways to stay at home for longer as opposed to moving to a residential care home as their predecessors did. Accordingly, retirement developers acquiring sites are therefore able to bid competitively compared to other use classes with the comfort of knowing end values are supportive. With plots still being comparatively good value when compared to the South -East, developers seeking to capitalise on the growth in the retirement sector are now increasingly looking to the South-West for their next schemes. The sector is becoming better understood with the stigma of an ‘old people’s flat with a warden’ slowly being replaced with aspirational schemes providing not only modern accommodation but also wider on-site amenities such as a gym, restaurant and swimming pool. RETIREMENT 33 | CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD