Guild Living, Legal & General’s urban retirement housing business, has submitted plans to convert a former Homebase store into a mixed-use retirement scheme.
Proposals for the location in Bath include public facilities such as a nursery, to create an intergenerational community.
The business aims to develop and manage the project, which includes 317 retirement flats as well as a gym.
Other shared facilities include a fitness centre, community cafe, cinema, library and crafts space, alongside shops and a multi-faith room.
It would be the city centre’s first intergenerational community location.
Guild Living has said its ambition is to support the NHS through the inclusion of transitional beds and step-down services. It also pointed to its scope to free up family housing.
Eugene Marchese, co-founder and director at Guild Living, said: “Nobody – no matter their age – wants to live in isolated villages or feel like they exist in a silo.
“There is a severe lack of quality housing for those entering what I would call the ‘third age’, so it comes as no surprise that so few people live in dedicated later living homes.
“By building these communities in vibrant, urban locations, creating facilities that everyone can use and providing the care and support when it is needed, we can drastically improve the quality of life for our elderly.”
Michael Eggington, co-founder and chief executive of Guild Living, said: “With an ageing population and a growing social care crisis, it’s clear that the demand for later living will exponentially increase.
“But it isn’t simply about the strong economic case of preventing hospital stays and keeping people active – it’s about the social benefits to communities and the human cost of not doing this.”
The plans, submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council, can be found with application reference 20/00259/FUL.
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