Our assisted living for rent platform, Birchgrove, has extended its portfolio to seven sites with its latest purchase in Chiswick, London – while also securing planning consent for its sixth site, in Leatherhead.

The Chiswick site is located on the Chiswick High Road, adjacent to the Chiswick Flower Market, and previously housed the local police station. Birchgrove is proposing to redevelop this highly prominent site to provide 48 apartments and communal facilities for residents and the wider Chiswick community. This will be the first development of its kind within the London Borough of Hounslow.

Birchgrove has also been granted planning consent to redevelop the former United Reformed Church in Leatherhead, Surrey. The planning process took less than a year to complete due to the strong engagement of Mole Valley Borough Council; councillors had particular praise for Birchgrove’s extensive community engagement and the iconic design of the front elevation.

The Leatherhead development will comprise three detached buildings, each of 2.5 storeys, to provide a total of 62 high-quality self-contained apartments for people over 65.

Bridges launched Birchgrove as an assisted living initiative in 2017, to provide purpose-built, high-quality assisted living apartments for senior citizens looking to downsize or live in a more secure and/or communal environment. Its relatively rare rental model offers tenants the benefits of independence without the burdens of home ownership.

Honor Barratt, Chief Executive of Birchgrove said: “It’s very rare to say that Londoners are underserved in anything; we live in one of the best cities in the world. However, the older people of London are distinctly disadvantaged when it comes to retirement living; too often we are forced to age in a terraced house and sometimes end up living only in the downstairs. With the acquisition of the former Police Station in Chiswick High Road, those in the borough who are “getting on a bit” can now live their very best lives in the heart of their community. Chiswick and Leatherhead together take the Birchgrove portfolio to seven neighbourhoods, each unique and glorious in their own way but all aligned in embodying the fundamentals to living a long and happy life.”

Simon Ringer, Bridges’ Head of Property Funds, added: “We’re delighted that Birchgrove has taken another important step forward by achieving planning for its sixth site and securing another great new site in Chiswick. There’s a chronic shortage of high-quality retirement homes for the over-65s in the South-East; Birchgrove’s unique offer not only helps to meet this demand, but is also driving better health and wellbeing outcomes for its residents.”