WORK will get underway next year on a £45million retirement home, the developer behind the scheme has confirmed.

McCarthy & Stone is to tear down the former main yard of Rawlings Transport, in Rawlings Road, Hook, and replace it with 124 specialist retirement apartments after planning consent was granted in March this year.

The development will be built to provide units with extra care facilities.

These units will provide a mix of self-contained one and two-bedroom private apartments, alongside flexible care and support packages from McCarthy & Stone’s own on-site team.

Gary Day, McCarthy & Stone’s group land and planning director, said: “We are delighted that planning permission has been granted on the Hook site, and that our close engagement with local stakeholders has allowed us to bring this excellent site forward for redevelopment.

“It has been a pleasure working with the Rawlings family on the exchange of the site, and we look forward to using the site to provide retirement homes that the UK market is calling out for.

“We know that the number of people in the UK aged 65 or over is set to rapidly increase over the next two decades, and that over a third of over 65s are interested in downsizing.

“Despite this, there is a structural shortage of suitable housing options for older people in the UK and, as such, we remain on the lookout for more high-quality sites to deliver the retirement communities that are needed.”

The Retirement Living Plus development will offer a range of facilities including communal gardens, an open-plan bistro dining, residents’ lounge, a wellness suite, and a guest suite.

There will also be 19 apartments made available on a shared ownership basis at the site.