Part II of this book centres on three key actors – property developer, resident owner and scheme manager – associated with the private sector retirementliving housing product known here as the retirement villa. The villa concept was developed by Pink & Knight and comprises of an age-exclusive housing block made up of privately owned one-and two-bedroom apartments grouped around communal facilities and services. A typical villa development consists of 40 apartments in one building, with the following features:

• • concierge reception (staffed by a scheme manager);

• • shared lounge, coffee bar and accessible toilet;

• • guest suite (for use by friends and family);

• • intruder alarm and CCTV entry system;

• • a central lift serving all floors;

• • 24-hour care and support system;

• • landscaped gardens (including patio/ terrace associate with shared lounge);

• • free parking (including electric vehicles, cycles and mobility scooters).

All villas are managed by an independent company, referred to here as Villa Management Services (VMS), which is owned by Pink & Knight. The management company collects the monthly service charge and is responsible for all maintenance, servicing and ongoing management of the villas. This accommodation model has developed over decades and is now becoming more widely recognised as a ‘lifestyle’ offer. For the avoidance of doubt, Pink & Knight’s product is not a designed care environment, nor are staff trained care workers. Some resident owners make private arrangements for care when they need it, but the villa is otherwise a domestic environment.

Another important aspect to note is the relatively small market segment which this product serves. According to Knight Frank (2018) there are 725,000 retirement housing units across the UK, which accounts for around 2.6 per cent of all homes across the UK. Of these, private retirement housing units (162,000) account for 0.6 per cent of stock. Less than 10 per cent of older people are estimated to live in specialist housing (Pannell et al 2012). Furthermore, owners of retirement apartments tend to represent a narrow demographic. Indeed, those met within Pink & Knight’s villas were predominantly middle-class, older people in their late 70s, of White British ethnicity and with a degree of financial security and relative property wealth.