Frequently Asked
Questions.

We’re looking at creating communities across the country. We’re already planning for developments in Walton-on-Thames, Epsom and Bath. We’ll provide details of other towns and cities where we’ll be building new Guild Living communities as soon as we can.

Fact: loneliness is a problem among older people. According to the NHS, more than 1 million older people go for a month without speaking to friends or family. More than 2 million people in England over the age of 75 live alone. We want Guild Living communities to help bring people closer together as a way to help reduce loneliness. Described by medical professionals as a ‘silent epidemic’, loneliness has profound medical implications.

That’s why we open many of our facilities to local people. That’s why we provide extra care, with its potential to significantly reduce social isolation. That’s why we build our communities where we do, so that residents will not only have the many Guild amenities ‘on their doorstep’ but will also be at the centre of towns and cities where they can enjoy all the vibrancy that these offer.

We believe that older people should have this option to live in the heart of their town/city, connected to all the activities and amenities, rather than going to retirement communities far from them all.

Legal & General is committed to regenerating Britain’s towns and cities – its ‘Future Cities’ projects are fast transforming and reshaping Britain’s landscape, bringing jobs and housing back into the centre of cities and better utilising existing infrastructure.

‘Future Cities’ is built on Legal & General’s long-established commitment to the housing sector that includes affordable homes to buy and rent, home for first-time buyers – and, increasingly, later living homes to buy and rent – which is where Guild Living comes in. Guild Living was established in 2018 by Eugene Marchese, Guild Living’s Design and Innovation Director, and Michael Eggington, CEO, in proud partnership with Legal & General. We’re completely aligned with Legal & General’s long-term values of providing top quality, secure, later living housing for those people for whom this may be their last move.

Increasing housing for all in the UK is now critical. Despite over-65s already making up 18% of the population, retirement properties make up just 2%, so we specifically need to provide more homes for this age group. With the population of over-85s in the UK expected to double by 2041, this demand will only increase.

The development of later living apartments also contributes towards a council’s housing targets. As people downsize, it frees up larger, family homes that are in short supply – helping to tackle the wider housing shortfall.

You might decide to live in a Guild Living community because you:

– Want to live closer to a town centre

– Want to live more sociably among a community of people

– Are looking to downsize

– Want the sense of safety from the added security

– Don’t want the burden of running your current home any more

– Are looking for stimulating, practical facilities ‘on your doorstep’

– Can get the reassurance of knowing care assistance is available 24/7 if needed

– Just want to move once, to somewhere that provides flexible care as your needs change

We understand how this is a major topic in our country at the moment. If older people downsize from multi-bedroom homes to our Guild Living communities that are better suited for their needs, this frees up larger homes for younger people who need them for growing families. We’re aiming to provide our mid-market homes at prices in line with local areas to appeal to a wide range of people, particularly in places where the need and demand are greatest.

Visit the website:

If you’d like to know more about one of our developments, please visit its dedicated website. You’ll find a feedback form there, as well as a information about our proposals:

Bath

Epsom

Uxbridge

Walton

Email us:

About Bath: info@guildlivingbath.co.uk

About Epsom: info@guildlivingepsom.co.uk

About Walton-on-Thames: info@guildlivingwaltononthames.co.uk

General queries about any other matter: lab@guildliving.co.uk

Facilities will vary by location, but typically, as a resident, you’ll be able to enjoy a restaurant/café space, wellness centre, landscaped outdoor spaces and more.

Yes, we’ll open as many of our facilities as possible to the wider community, including a café/bar and a restaurant. This will vary, depending on the location. Read more on the developments here:

– Epsom

– Bath

– Walton-on-Thames

We take great care from the outset of the design process to consider issues such as separation distances between neighbouring properties and building heights as well as the more detailed design issues such as the locations of windows and balconies. We’ll take on board input from our neighbours during consultation where possible.

Issues that often create the main impact on neighbouring properties such as overlooking, daylight/sunlight assessments and visual impact are all assessed via appointed specialist consultants to ensure any impact is reduced as much as possible through the design process.

Guild Living communities provide patient transition pathways for those who need to leave the hospital but still need a high level of support. They will also have a considerable economic impact, providing new full-time positions to the local workforce, supporting small business service providers, increasing footfall on local high streets and reducing the burden on the local authority in addressing the increasing needs of the older population.

Our communities are holistically designed with the care and wellbeing of older people in mind, with a range of amenities and services designed to promote long-term health and wellbeing.

Many of our communities will have a wellness centre, including therapy and treatment rooms, that offers a range of services, including physiotherapy, a gym and our active ageing classes.

We’ll also provide flexible care and domestic support options that are available to you as a resident as and when you need them.

No: evidence shows that living in this kind of environment means that residents are less likely to visit a GP or a hospital, which will reduce pressure on the NHS. You can read more here.

Imagine a beautifully landscaped, public community square. There’s a restaurant/café, and wellness facilities located around it to ensure activity and connectivity, and encourage interactions for locals, visitors and residents. This is at the heart of every Guild Living community.

As well as providing all this for Guild members, facilities will also be accessible for local people, so they benefit the local community as well as residents.

While we’re still developing the final appearance of the buildings, the materials will take clues from the local area, with the schemes being contemporary in nature as well as responding to the character of each location.

Imagine a beautifully landscaped, public community square. There’s a restaurant/café, and wellness facilities located around it to ensure activity and connectivity, and encourage interactions for locals, visitors and residents. This is at the heart of every Guild Living community.

As well as providing all this for Guild members, facilities will also be accessible for local people, so they benefit the local community as well as residents.

While we’re still developing the final appearance of the buildings, the materials will take clues from the local area, with the schemes being contemporary in nature as well as responding to the character of each location.

As all our sites vary in size, completion times will be different for each. You’ll find updates on the individual location websites:

For Bath: https://guildlivingbath.co.uk/

For Epsom: https://www.guildlivingepsom.co.uk/

For Walton-on-Thames: www.guildlivingwaltononthames.co.uk

The contractor will stick to strict work hours and be required to provide a traffic management plan through the construction period.

The contractor will stick to strict work hours and be required to provide a traffic management plan through the construction period.

No, we will not use any public funds in the development of any of our communities.

Funding will be provided by Legal & General Capital, the early-stage investment arm of Legal & General Group, investing from Legal & General’s principal balance sheet.

As a resident at Guild Living, you can have any assistance that is required provided for you when and if you need it – you won’t have the worry of sourcing it yourself. You can also rest assured that it’s support of the highest standards.  You can also request domestic services if/when you need them.

By helping to reduce the chance of accidents at home and providing on-site support, appropriate later living housing will make an impact on costs for local healthcare services by reducing GP and hospital visits. At Guild Living, we’ll also address the critical impact of loneliness in the ageing population, following a groundbreaking international academic study into the factors of loneliness.

Each Guild Living community has a core focus on the needs of each member, with support services tailored to the individual and payable on an ‘as needs’ basis, rather than a fixed cost programme as is the case in nursing homes.

Guild Livings will operate under strict governance and community management protocols, ensuring the quality of service to Members and the wider community. The Guild Assist team will be registered with the Care Quality Commission, who will also inspect and evaluate the quality of support being delivered on a continual basis.

Staff numbers will be between 40-60, providing job opportunities for local people.

Our construction partners are selected for their ability to create social value and to have a direct impact on local economies, contributing to job security, training and opportunities for local companies and people. They’ll draw on well-established relationships with partner organisations to promote the use of local companies, SMEs and local social enterprises.

Retirement villages generate substantial additional council tax receipts for the relevant local authority. Residents of retirement living and extra care schemes spend less time in hospital before being discharged and have less planned GP visits, saving the NHS and the council money.

People are living longer and experience rising health and care needs, which puts pressure on public services. That’s why it’s crucial to provide purpose-built environments to be able to address the inevitable demographic change.

We know that parking availability will be important to our residents’ continued independence. We estimate that each community will have approximately 100-150 parking spaces available, though it will vary by location (and is subject to final planning consent).

It’s your home to live in. So you can come with a partner, dog, cats…whoever is part of your life!

Yes. Our services will be designed to support you both, no matter whether your partner requires a higher level of care than you do (for example, for dementia, other long-term health condition or physical frailty). That’s why we’ll have three different types of residence to choose from, depending on the level of support needed.

Yes of course – within reason! We understand that pets can provide incredibly valuable companionship. That’s why every Guild Living community will welcome them and have quality landscaped spaces that make it easier for you to look after them. However, as you’d expect, we wouldn’t accept pets that would cause any danger or discomfort to our Members or Guild Team.

We’ll have care and clinical support in place for residents with dementia, depending on individual needs. Whether they’re alone or living with a partner, there’ll be a warm welcome, excellent care and a stimulating environment at Guild Living.

Absolutely. Your guests will be welcome to visit you in your own Guild home and use our facilities. It’s something we love to encourage as part of our belief in the importance of multigenerational living.

Rest assured that our communities will be designed with this eventuality in mind. Whether you live in an apartment or suite, we’ll have a dedicated in-home (domiciliary) care team who can provide as much care and support as you need. You can have this for as short or as long a period as required to recover from an operation, illness or more significant changes in your overall health.

Not at all. Our goal is for you to maintain your independence and to keep it for as long as possible. In fact, our whole community will be created with this in mind – and we’ve invested in in-depth research to enable us to help you achieve this in an effective way.

Part of our meticulous approach was establishing the six wellness pillars on which our work with our residents will be based:

• Nutritional
• Cognitive
• Physical
• Emotional
• Financial
• Care Support

As we’re still in the planning stages of our first communities, we’re not yet selling or renting homes. You can stay up-to-date with developments and will be able to register your interest in any of our communities on this website. Start by clicking ‘REGISTER’ on this page so we can send you our monthly newsletter with the latest updates. You can also read more about what we’re up to on our social channels using the links at the bottom of this page.

Guild residences are available to buy or rent.

Guild Living communities are designed to offer competitively priced homes. However, as our developments are subject to planning, we can’t yet provide precise details about our pricing. We’ll provide more information on the website and through our monthly email updates as soon as we can.

At Guild Living, we appreciate just how important it is to know about fees and charges, especially when you’re budgeting for your retirement. We’re committed to offering true value for money and are currently defining our fee structure. Sign up to our newsletter to find out more.

As a general rule of thumb, our homes will be available if you’re over the age of 65, for couples or individuals (plus pets), although this is subject to local authorities’ regulations.

Our retirement communities will be built on a previously developed brownfield site, not green land. What’s more, our proposals will substantially improve the local area landscaping and will increase the amount of green space through new landscaping.

Our proposals involve a reduction in car ownership and a contribution to the environment through a focus on using green methods of transport. We also conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for each of our sites. See the next question for more information on this.

This is an assessment of any likely significant effects that the facility could have on the environment. If the potential effects are unacceptable, changes to design or other mitigation measures must be taken to avoid, reduce or offset the effects. The EIA considers all potential effects on the human and natural environment, in the studies listed below.

Our project team is made up of a team of specialist consultants covering planning, heritage, landscape, ecology, highways, air, noise, flooding, construction impacts. We will prepare the EIA screening, which will be submitted to the Council to independently review.

EIA topics studied comprise:

• Landscape and visual impact
• Heritage and archaeology
• Health
• Socio-economics
• Ecology and nature conservation.

Their findings are presented in an Environmental Statement (ES) together with a non-technical summary. The ES is taken into account by the local planning authority when deciding whether or not to give consent for each development.

We will offer a range of apartments that support different care needs. The number of homes will vary, depending on the location. It’s likely that there’ll be between 200 and 300 homes in each community.

The size of each site varies, although a typical, average size would be around four acres. You can read more about the individual communities here.

We provide a range of apartments that suit those living more independently as well as those who may require more support.

You can choose from three different types of residence:

Guild Living Residences: GLRs represent Guild Living’s core product offering. Designed for ageing in place, GLRs support the Member’s needs, allowing a seamless delivery of discreet and respectful services offered within the home. The design responds at every detail to the functional needs of an ageing person, without sacrificing Guild Living’s design aesthetic.

Guild Care Residences: Guild Care Residences provide the vibrance, activity and social connection from the wider Guild Living Community, within an environment purposefully designed to enable seamless delivery of domiciliary and clinical care services. Distinctive features aid wayfinding and create secure assisted living environments and integration of technology aids assist in providing fully accessible living spaces. Co-located with the Care suite community, the GCR receives the same level of support that a Care Suite may receive.

Guild Care Suites: A Guild care community will typically offer 25-40 care suites, with dedicated communal areas, dining rooms and kitchens, lounge and activity areas and nursing stations and clinical areas for the delivery of care services.

Most of our residences are Guild Living Residences. These stylish, practical homes are designed for ‘ageing in place.’ This means that if your requirements change, we can provide discreet and respectful services from domestic support to care, as and when needed – all designed to help you stay as independent as possible.

Guild Care Residences provide the vibrancy, activity and social connection from the wider Guild Living community, within an environment purposefully designed to enable you to access domestic and care services 24/7, when you need them. They offer secure assisted living environments, while integrated technology aids assist in providing fully accessible living spaces

Guild Care Residences are ideal when you’re looking to:

• Receive a higher level domestic or care support
• Prefer a more residential design environment than a care suite
• Receive higher care for your partner, while you still want to live independently
• Move closer to a partner in a care suite
• Have the reassurance of regular care or support permanently in place
• Have greater care security.

Offering 24-hour care services, we’ve designed our care suites for residents who need the most support. Maybe they’re coming to us from hospital or from home after a fall, and may need short term or respite care or a longer stay. They have homely, welcoming communal areas, dining rooms and kitchens, lounge and activity areas, and nursing stations and clinical areas for the delivery of care services.

A care suite provides a home for a single person, generally over 75, who needs to live in a very supportive environment, with 24-hour care delivered as required.

Along with our design partners, award-wining international consultancy, Marchese Partners, we focused on the following design principles for each development:

Familiarity refers to the extent to which the built environment and its elements are recognisable to older people and how easily they’re understood by them.

Legibility refers to the extent to which the built environment and its elements help people understand where they are and how to identify which way they need to go. Legible environments have an easy to understand typology, language and materiality that provide easy to understand hierarchies.

Distinctiveness relates to the extent to which the environments give a clear image of where the person is, what the uses are for and how they’re to be used. Distinctiveness reflects culture and character of their life history through colour, texture, forms and materials.

Accessibility refers to the extent to which environments and their components enable people to mobilise around spaces and places they need or desire to visit regardless of any physical, sensory or cognitive impairment.

Connectivity relates to the ability for environments to act as conduits and connectors for people and their family, friends and greater community.

Safety refers to the extent to which environments and their parts enable people to use, enjoy, socialise and move around the spaces without fear of falling, tripping and becoming disorientated.

Individual choice relates to the fact that we’re all unique. Environments must facilitate our diverse desires and needs. Environments should not adopt a ‘one size fits all’ mentality. We must consider the wide variety of lifestyles when designing older people’s environments so that every person is afforded the same level of choice.

We’ll maintain a dialogue with councillors, officers and community groups in each city within which we’re developing. This will usually be through a series of public consultations designed to be open and honest, and to engage with others.

Guild Living will be the owner of the freehold.

Guild Living communities will be fully accessible for wheelchairs, including the homes and the public areas such as our café/bar and restaurant.

Yes, the community will have a range of security measures in place to provide a secure living environment.

Our aim is to minimise any impact on local roads. While we’re providing car parking for residents and staff, the town/city centre locations of our sites also mean that many people will be able to walk, cycle or use public transport. We’ll make a fleet of shared vehicles available for residents to use, discouraging car ownership too. We believe that most travel to and from the sites will be outside of peak times.

Rest assured, we’ll take great care to minimise the impact of construction. Our construction partners are selected for their ability to operate safely and efficiently in residential areas offering “Invisibility”, and “business as usual” for the local residents.

• Deliveries strategy (pre-booked slots)
• Identifying holding areas off-site (so delivery vehicles don’t park in adjacent roads)
• Parking for operatives
• Directional signage strategy for deliveries and visitors
• One-way delivery routes through the site
• Wheel wash facilities before vehicles leave the site
• Start and finish time for work activities on the site
• Acoustic reducers for plant and equipment
• Channel for local residents’ communication