Nine building firms picked by Later living developer

Nine construction companies have been selected for a regional framework for a developer of retirement housing.

Inspired Villages, one of Legal & General’s later living businesses, has big development plans for the south of the country. In the south of England it currently has six villages in operation, three of which have construction of further residential phases ongoing. A seventh and eighth village are also under construction and works are expected to start on four further villages in 2021 as well.

It has selected nine building firms as construction partners, for this programme:- Castleoak, Highwood, Graham, Kier, Stepnell, Thakeham, Vistry, Wates and Willmott Dixon.

The developer said that they had been selected “based on their expertise, ingenuity and ability to work to a predictable and consistent timeline, as well as a track record in delivering the highest quality retirement communities within allocated timeframes and budget”.

There are also plans to create similar groups for other regions, midlands, north and Scotland.

Each inspired village development is typically delivered in three phases over a period of approximately four years at a cost contract ranging from £10m to £30m per phase.

Neal Dale, Inspired Villages development director, said: “Adding to our existing portfolio of 1,000 homes, Inspired’s ambitious strategy will deliver retirement communities across the UK in order to satisfy the growing demand for well-designed, later living communities. The appointment of the southeast partner group will be an important part of streamlining the delivery of our extensive pipeline whilst generating strong-partnership relationships with key delivery businesses”.

Shaun Whelan, construction director added, “These are exciting times for Inspired Villages and following the successful launch of our southeast partner group we are now turning our attention to establish similar contractor partnerships groups for the midlands, north and Scotland to support our ambitious growth plans and align with our future development opportunities. Contractors wishing to be considered for one of our further contractor partnership groups can show an expression of interest by initially contacting contractors@inspiredvillages.co.uk”.