French multinational Engie plans £15m drive into UK retirement housing sector

The firm has set aside £15m of capital expenditure for the move and will launch with a site in Walton, Wakefield, before branching out to four more sites in planning or under construction by the end of the year.

Dave Sheridan, head of the places and communities division at Engie and former chief executive of Keepmoat, said: “This started as an idea in development about three years ago in Keepmoat.

“We were building care and retirement homes for the social sector and first-time buyer homes, and we thought we could see a niche for the last-time buyer.

“There is a group of people who don’t want the luxury golf courses or the McCarthy & Stone option but also don’t want to go into socially rented accommodation, so we thought there was a niche where there was demand.”

He said the firm plans to pioneer a new model of service charges which will allow the buyers to reduce or increase the level of care services they are paying for as their needs change. The homes will be marketed as ‘Lifestyle by Engie’.

Keepmoat Regeneration was purchased by Engie, with Keepmoat Homes – the housebuilding arm of the business – remaining as a standalone company.

Engie has secured four sites across North Yorkshire, Nottingham and Derbyshire for development, with more in negotiation across the UK.

Mr Sheridan said the venture is expected to break even in the first year, before generating a profit in the following years.

“We are looking to do this in strategic partnership with local authorities, so the £15m we are putting in will hopefully go a lot further,” he added.

There are 7,000 annual completions of purpose built new homes for the older persons market, but research identifies that to keep pace with current demand requires 60,000 completions.

The move comes as major retirement housing associations Anchor and Hanover announced plans to merge to form a giant 53,000-home housing association.