Adlington Retirement Living completes land purchases

Adlington Retirement Living has completed a trio of land purchases in three months, as part of its expansion plans.

The three sites are in St Leonard’s in Exeter, Timperley in Greater Manchester, and Ampthill in Bedfordshire.

The 1.3-acre plot in St Leonard’s is the former site of the Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education, which has been vacant for three years. The site is close to the River Exe and is surrounded by parks and green spaces. Plans have yet to be submitted but are likely to feature approximately 72 one-, two- and three-bedroomed apartments, plus communal areas.

In Timperley, the site acquired in April, will become Adlington’s first rental only scheme. ‘We are looking to introduce a rental model to our portfolio of IRCs. We want to offer consumers more choice and broaden the appeal of retirement living. We’ve already noticed an increase in enquiries about rental options, so we know there’s a growing demand from our customers,’ said Dr Ed Gladman, chief executive of Adlington Retirement Living.

In Ampthill, a 2.24-acre plot acquired this month, is the site of a former care home. A feasibility study shows approximately 90 one-, two- and three-bedroomed apartments could be built plus communal areas.

‘Over the past 12 months, we have grown our in-house land team to five dedicated land directors. This has enabled us to actively hunt for land parcels of 1-4 acres across a much wider geographical spread and the three sites that we have now acquired are a result of that work,’ said Dr Gladman.

Since 2008, Adlington Retirement Living has launched 16 communities across the North West, Yorkshire, Wales and the Midlands. In the past six years the business has grown from 30 employees to a team of more than 250.

Having opened marketing suites for its 17th and 18th communities in Kempston, Bedfordshire, and Wylde Green, near Solihull, the business is set to provide 647 new homes over the next three years.

Ed Gladman added: ‘There’s an urgent need to address the shortage of appropriate housing for older people and integrated retirement communities (IRCs) are a very undersupplied part of the market. Having grown to our current position of opening three sites every year, our ambition is to move to launching six new sites each year within the next three years.’