Have the time of your life in retirement

The apartments have open-plan living, dining and kitchen areas, with wooden worktops and all cabinetry in easy reach. Integrated appliances include a dishwasher and microwave and there is a free-standing washer-dryer. Deep carpets are fitted in living areas and bedrooms. All apartments have a Shaker-style bathroom with under-sink storage and a wet room/walk-in shower with large-format floor and shower tiles. The apartments have underfloor heating and the hot water and heating for all homes are powered by a communal boiler plant. Aitch has placed great importance on including attractive communal spaces, such as the club lounge, “to foster community spirit and encourage informal interaction”. The room emulates the lounge of a relaxed but high-end boutique hotel. It is complemented by a large communal garden, ideal for outdoor socialising and events.

Chelsea Reynolds, director at Aitch Group, says: “As the UK begins to gradually emerge in a fresh post-pandemic world, life will begin to return to normal. There is considerable pent-up demand in the downsizer marketplace and there remains a strong and growing trend of retirees looking to downsize from family homes in villages into bustling town centres. Some householders have felt isolated during the lockdowns and now want amenities and social life on their doorstep rather than being a drive away. The lockdown has accelerated this trend and made carefully-designed developments such as Hollyoak House even more relevant.” Apartments at Hollyoak House start at £395,000.

Health and wellbeing facilities are one of the highlights at Fitzjohn’s, in Hampstead. Fitzjohn’s is built by Pegasus, part of the Lifestory Group, a leading developer of premium retirement communities in central London. There are 29 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, including penthouses, with a landscaped courtyard garden, automated underground car park, concierge, seating area overlooking the garden, guest suite, club lounge and library — plus a health spa with exercise studio, wellness lounges, hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room and treatment/beauty salon.

Fitzjohn’s is on the flat hilltop of Fitzjohn’s Avenue, a few hundred yards from the centre of Hampstead village. The apartments are for the over-60s. The two mansion buildings, inspired by Arts & Crafts architecture, are by award-winning Sergison Bates and feature hand-laid feature brickwork with corbelled detailing, hexagonal bays with large full-height windows, Juliet balconies and sculptural balustrades.

Designed in the style of a large drawing room of a Hampstead mansion or boutique hotel, the club lounge has an 18ft-high ceiling, full-height windows and shelving for books and objets d’art. There are luxurious seating areas and a dining area with food and drinks bar.

The spa has two wellness lounges, arranged to overlook the hydrotherapy pool, which is lined with hand-laid mosaic and massage jets. Residents can also enjoy a herbal sauna and a salt steam room infused with aromatherapy oils, colour light therapy and natural salt inhalation. The spa and garden floor has a room for massages and beauty treatments, a large exercise studio for Pilates or one-to-one fitness training and a changing area lined with locker cupboards and private changing/bathrooms and monsoon shower rooms. Opening out from the wellness lounge is the central garden courtyard with seating, where residents can enjoy coffee and a good read.

The apartments are designed for homeowners used to living in large family houses, so they are spacious, with grand entrance halls, large dual-aspect rooms with deep bay windows, high ceilings and full-height windows. Layouts offer flexibility, with interconnected rooms and hallways making it easy to turn a dining room into a second living room; a bedroom into a library, study or dressing room and two adjoining bedrooms into a large principal bedroom suite, for instance.

The roomy kitchens have integrated appliances, a breakfast bar and marble worktops. The fully tiled bathrooms have large-format stone flooring and walls with polished nickel finishes, wall-mounted mirrors and a wet-room rainforest shower. Apartments on the garden floor have private garden terraces and those on the upper floors have sweeping views over central London.

Emily Nesbitt, regional mrketing drector at Lifestory Group, says: “Perfect for homeowners used to living in large family houses, the extremely spacious apartments with their high ceilings, large rooms and grand hallways ensure that buyers relocating from a family house will not feel they are downsizing, merely relocating into a voluminous lateral apartment.”

Prices at Fitzjohn’s start at £2,220,000. Goldschmidt & Howland and Beauchamp Estates are joint sole agents.

In Stanmore’s Merrion Avenue, Elysian Residences has The Landsby, apartments with five-star amenities, services and additional healthcare and support available on a flexible basis.

Designed by Collado Collins, the Landsby’s architectural style references the Art Deco period seen in the local area. The 101 one- and two-bedroom apartments, including ten penthouses, have an imposing entrance canopy and foyer, feature brickwork, curved walls, polished pillars, large windows and generous covered balconies.

The apartments include Miele and Siemens appliances, Hansgrohe and Duravit bathrooms and timber tongue and groove flooring. They range from 620 to 725 sq ft for a one-bedroom apartment, and 900 to 1,700 sq ft for a two-bedroom. There are also ten penthouses.

The Landsby’s double-height entrance lobby and library spans the entire depth of the building. The library, curated by Foyles, covers fiction, non-fiction and children’s books (for homeowners’ grandchildren) and new books can be ordered via the concierge. The reception area opens into the coffee lounge and bar.

There is a full-service a la carte restaurant and bar, Benjamin’s, plus a private dining room which can be booked for dinner parties and celebrations; residents can also store their own wine bottles in the cellar. In addition, with 24 hours’ notice, they can order personalised menus including kosher, vegan, vegetarian, haute cuisine, dietary requirements and allergy sensitive food; special birthday cakes and desserts.

The community events space will provide activities for homeowners, from lectures to bridge nights to fitness classes. There is also a beauty salon and treatment room area, with hairdressing and beauty therapies. Also in this area will be consultation rooms which medical professionals can use discreetly to treat homeowners if needed.

The sixth floor of the Landsby houses the luxury rooftop gym, while Pilates, yoga and Zumba classes are held regularly in the ground floor events space.

Outdoor communal spaces include a paved terrace at the front of the building with seating for relaxation and lunch al fresco, complete with planting and a bronze sculpture by Asnat Halter. At the rear, the library and Benjamin’s restaurant open on to a garden terrace which can be used for lounging, entertaining and dining.

The Landsby is a short walk from Stanmore tube station and is served by bus routes to areas including Brent Cross shopping centre, Stanmore Country Park and Bentley Priory. There is a limited number of apartments still available to purchase at the Landsby, from £480,000 to £1,550,000.

Grade II listed Hendon Hall is a landmark for north west Londoners. Originally built in the 18th century as Hendon Manor, in 1911 it became a hotel, before being used as an RAF convalescent home in the Second World War. Once reopened as a hotel, it hosted the England football team, including Sir Bobby Charlton, prior to their winning of the 1966 World Cup at Wembley Stadium.

Now, Signature Senior Lifestyle has opened Signature at Hendon Hall, its latest home in north west London offering assisted living, nursing and dementia care. The Grade II listed period splendour is complemented by contemporary luxury accommodation, five-star amenities and award-winning care tailored to the individual.

Signature at Hendon Hall offers 102 spacious apartments, from studios to large one-bedroom apartments, with a variety of layouts, aspects and views. There is also a dementia care complex with 24 apartments, all designed in line with the Gold Standard Framework from Stirling University, specifically for those living with memory loss.

Hendon Hall stands in leafy grounds including a terrace, patio and winding paths, providing a relaxing and secluded environment. Amenities include a café and restaurant with menus by Jane Devonshire, MasterChef winner in 2016. There is also a private dining room, boutique cinema, pub lounge, library and salon.

“Rent before you buy” is the new option available at Heathside, Osprey’s landmark retirement home in Golders Green. You can choose from a menu of rental options, from unfurnished to fully inclusive where Osprey takes care of all the bills, while you decide whether to buy or if you simply need the flexibility of a rental option.

Osprey is a specialist in owning and managing high-quality retirement homes, including selling flats on behalf of their owners. At the moment, Osprey has flats available for sale at Heathside to suit many pockets and tastes. There are one- and two-bedroom flats, some front-facing on the Finchley Road, some facing south overlooking West Heath Avenue and some looking on to the rear garden. Prices range from £415,000 to £525,000.

There is a house manager and a 24-hour emergency call system. Residents also appreciate the good transport links into London, the shops in Golders Green and, most of all, Golders Hill Park, when they can take long walks amid the trees and flowers — and show the animals (from donkeys and lemurs to and all sorts of birds) to their grandchildren.

Heathside also has plenty of on-site car parking, a residents’ lounge, therapy room and communal laundry.