All our retirement properties – bungalows, chalet bungalows and apartments – are deliberately priced in a way that makes them more affordable to more of the local community than the retirement-suitable properties already available in the area. 

This discounting is absolutely central to what we’re trying to achieve here at Lewis & Scott. We don’t think that a healthy, enjoyable retirement lifestyle should only be for the wealthy, and we also feel strongly that people should be able to stay in their own communities as they get older.

Naturally, owing to geographical differences in property prices, the cost of our retirement properties will vary across our different sites – but what is common to all is the discount on comparable market value. To find out more about prices in your area, get in touch with our friendly team by filling in our contact form.

As a company we are more focused on the social good that we can achieve (through providing affordable retirement living that helps people stay close to their friends and family), than we are focused on profit. We not only have personal experience of struggling to find suitable accommodation for older family members, but we believe in an ethical business model and putting communities’ needs first..

We also make sure that we make the very best use of the area within our properties, eradicating ‘dead’ space such as corridors, to keep within a small footprint without compromising on comfort and spacious feel – and naturally, smaller properties are by their very nature more affordable. However, critically with our carefully-designed homes, smaller does not mean less nice!

This is one of the reasons why we conduct extensive research and engagement projects with the communities in which we intend to build. We want to build the type of housing that is wanted and needed by each local area, and also provide it at a price point that is affordable, based on income levels in that place (we base our calculations on Office for National Statistics data).

In order to ensure that our homes meet the needs of local older people first and foremost, the lead occupant must be aged 60+. This is a criterion that also applies to re-sale, ensuring the long-term integrity of Lewis & Scott communities. Additionally, priority is given to those living within the local area.

The planning requirements vary between regions, and so local authorities may impose criteria for specific developments. These will normally take the form of a cap on income, and similar restrictions apply to Shared Ownership and Affordable Rent properties. To find out more about the qualifying criteria for a particular site, please get in touch.

Council planning departments are keen to incentivise the building of more specialist retirement properties – because there just isn’t enough retirement-suitable housing stock in existence or being built – so the minimum age for residents (60) has been set as a planning condition.

Service charges are necessary to cover the upkeep of the green spaces and communal areas, for the wellbeing of the whole community, but we don’t like the way that some developments use high charges to generate profit. Charges will vary depending on the site, but we have made commitment to keep them lower than the norm for new estates.

If you’d like to ask about the service charge for a particular site, please do get in touch with our friendly team by filling in our web form.

To maintain the friendly neighbourhood feel of our retirement communities, we only sell to owner-occupiers.

We have designed all our properties, and indeed the layout of the whole community, with all age-related health conditions in mind, including dementia, because environment can have such a positive impact on health and wellbeing as people grow older.

Indeed, being in the right kind of accommodation can help slow decline, and enable people to live a better quality of life for longer.

For example, dementia-friendly features include:

Our homes maximise light, space and access, they are a completely different kind of property to ‘traditional’ builds, for good reason. For example, we use vertical spaces such as double-height ceilings to achieve an open feel, which is a departure from ‘traditional’ UK housing styles – and a positive one at that!

All bedrooms and bathrooms are completely private, accessed via a hallway, but elsewhere we’ve dispensed with some of the dead space associated with the traditional bungalow - such as long corridors – to maximise space while maintaining affordability.

Carpark space varies according to the size of the home. Every property has at least one designated space, many of which can be accessed via a door under a car port, so are completely sheltered. There is also ample guest parking on site.

Visit our contact us page, and fill in our web form. We’ll get a brochure out to you right away.

In line with all other new-build developments, our retirement bungalows, chalet-bungalows and maisonettes all carry an NHBC 10-year guarantee as standard.