Carry on working: Developers get a grip on the need for housing for over-65s still in work
- 47% of retirees say they are working or plan to work in retirement
- Trained ballet dancer Gillian Robinson, 75, still teaches from her home
What does one do with retirees who refuse to retire? That’s a question housebuilders are having to ask themselves as they seek to attract non-retiring types.
According to research from Merrill Lynch, 47 per cent of retirees say they are either working or plan to work in retirement, and 72 per cent of people in the 50-plus range say they plan to do the same.
Trained ballet dancer Gillian Robinson, 75, still teaches. She even built a studio in the garden of her marital home, now owned by her son, where she puts private pupils through their paces.
Elegant living: Audley Inglewood retirement village in Berkshire
‘I fell in love with dance at the age of 13 and nothing makes me happier,’ she tells me from the two-bedroom retirement apartment she and her husband share at Audley Inglewood, a retirement village in Berkshire. ‘I am not thinking of retiring.’
Neither is her husband Alan, 75, a former BA pilot. ‘Alan still flies,’ says Gillian. ‘He has a Pioneer Hawk and even took up paragliding in the Alps.’
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Gillian was in the Royal Ballet School and has shared a stage with Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev at the Royal Opera house.
She trained to be a teacher and examiner running her own ballet school in Buckleberry, just 25 minutes from the couple’s new home.
Nick Sanderson, CEO of Audley retirement villages, says developers need to redefine the outdated concept of retirement. ‘We recognise reaching the age of 55 does not mean you’re ready to slow down, nor give up work,’ he says.
‘This philosophy is reflected by the many ‘unretired’ people living at our villages who have chosen to continue in work or volunteer.
‘We provide flexible, shared space where owners can work, meet and entertain colleagues.
Working hard: Gillian Anderson works as a ballet teacher
‘We also place huge importance on the location of our villages, which have good transport links.’
Audley’s Chalfont Dene is 20 minutes by train from London, while its St George’s Place development, in Edgbaston, is close to central Birmingham. One-bedrooom apartments start at £270,000, audleyretirement.co.uk, 0121 516 6130)
Marian Walter, 69, bought a two-bed ground floor apartment at Elmbridge Village in Cranleigh, Surrey a year ago. (One-bed bungalows from £285,000, retirementvillages.co.uk, 01372 383950)
Marian, divorced with two children, sits as a magistrate at adult courts in Wimbledon and Lavender Hill in South London and the Family Court at Holborn. She says: ‘Working in retirement keeps you connected to the outside world. ‘I like making a contribution to society. I feel I can do anything I want with my life here.
The proximity of Retirement Villages’ Cedars Village in Hertfordshire to the M25 and a regular train service to London, proved ideal for Jenny Pardington, 72, who is the researcher and personal assistant for Lord Dubs of Battersea in the House of Lords.
‘My boss, who’s 82, is still more than capable of carrying out his job, and so am I. It gives me a sense of purpose,’ says Jenny.
