Artistic impression of proposed view looking north-west towards apartments and supermarket.
You said:
You told us that the design of the buildings is very important.
You raised concerns about the number of new homes being built.
You told us that you were worried about the height of the buildings and their relationship to near neighbours and the village green.
Artistic impression of proposed view looking south-east towards apartments.
We did:
- We have halved the number of new homes from 211 to 109.
- We have removed the residential development from Burwood Road facing the Green.
- We have lowered building heights to a maximum of six storeys.
- We have refined the design to tier the upper floors, reducing the building mass at the higher levels and increasing distances between the new buildings and neighbours.
- We have reduced the number of residential blocks from three to two buildings.
- We have introduced a Z-shaped building layout to reduce the visual impact of the residential buildings.
- We have lowered the massing towards Havers Avenue and the more sensitive residential locations.
- We have designed all upper-floor private amenity balconies to avoid overlooking the neighbouring rear gardens or the school.
What is Later Living housing?
When we marketed the site to potential partners, we received the highest level of interest from Later Living operators, reflecting the current undersupply of purpose-built accommodation for over 65s in the area.
Later Living accommodation provides self-contained homes, specifically designed for people of retirement age who want to downsize. It tends to be occupied by people from the local area, the likelihood is that they are therefore already registered with local GPs and normally provides services such as healthcare on-site, further reducing the reliance on local GPs and other services.
In Hersham, the village centre location means that residents can access shops and services easily, without having to rely on bus services.
Research on Later Living
‘Housing for an ageing population – our recommendations for 2023’ by the British Property Federation and Cushman and Wakefield shows that for every new retirement home built, 2.7 family homes will be released back into the housing market. (click here to view the full report).
Seniors Housing – development update summer 2023 by Knight Frank has shown that residents in Later Living accommodation can save local NHS services up to 38% per person in costs. (click here to read the research).