Local Need and Benefits

The Need for Specialist Housing in Daventry

The West Northamptonshire Core Strategy outlines a growing need for suitable homes for older people to live independently. The Strategic Housing Plan adopted in 2020 emphasises Daventry District as being one of the top three local authorities with the greatest expected increases in the over 65’s population. It is detailed in the Strategic Housing Plan that there is a higher percentage of older persons in the Daventry District than the national average.

To keep up with the increase, Daventry must provide new and suitable homes for this growing ageing population. In recent years however, the delivery of specialist older persons housing within Daventry has not come forward.

Our proposal will help to address this need for specialist accommodation for local older people in Daventry and the wider region, allowing local older people the opportunity to move into a more suitable home, while staying close to friends and family in Daventry.

The site chosen to support this need has been earmarked for development by Daventry Town Council within their ‘Daventry Town Centre Vision 2035’. The site has also been identified as suitable for development having been allocated as part of site EC3 within the Settlements and Countryside Local Plan (Part 2) For Daventry District 2011-2029.

How a McCarthy Stone can benefit the whole community

• Free up at least 94 family-sized and starter homes back onto the local market. Typically, most residents moving to a McCarthy Stone development move within a 5-mile radius of the development. Older people downsizing into this McCarthy Stone community, would release family-sized and starter homes back onto the local market. This residential shift would allow younger people and families in Daventry the opportunity to move into their ideal home, while relieving pressure on developing local greenfield sites;
• Generate approximately £363,000 each year of spending in local shops and businesses. McCarthy Stone residents typically use local shops and services daily or often. With 47 homes proposed for the site, residents of this development would be expected to spend £575,000 each year, £363,000 of which would be in local shops and businesses. Therefore, this new community, located next to the High Street, would provide a vital boost to businesses in Daventry, helping to support local retail jobs and keep shops open;
• Create savings to the NHS and local heath care service. Each person living in a McCarthy Stone specialist retirement community enjoys a reduced risk of health challenges, including dementia and slips & trips. This reduced health risk creates savings to the local heath service and the NHS of almost £3,500 per person per year. Therefore, this community would help to relieve pressure on the local health service, saving the NHS and social care service a total of approximately £213,000 each year.

These figures have been determined within a number of reports which examine the impact that retirement communities can have on residents, the economy and society-at-large. These reports can be found on the Community Benefits page, or by clicking the below links:

• Silver Saviours for the High Street: the economic benefits of having more older people near the high street
• Chain Reaction: the impact of new retirement accommodation on the property ladder, freeing up existing housing stock at all levels and reducing the need for new build homes
• Sustainable Living: how specialist accommodation helps to decarbonise the housing market and rejuvenate brownfield sites
• Healthier and Happier: the health and wellbeing improvements of living in specialist retirement accommodation and the fiscal savings it provides to both its residents and the NHS/social care