Retirement-home builder McCarthy & Stone is to launch its first new regional office in 14 years, opening in Colney Heath, Hertfordshire.
The new region will cover north London, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex.
McCarthy & Stone said the move “is another sign of the returning confidence in the housebuilding sector as well as the growing demand for high-quality retirement housing”.
The new region is being established with investment capital totalling £300m for land and build over the next four years to deliver approximately 1,800 new homes.
In its first financial year, the new office will seek to buy 15 new sites, with plans to increase site purchases year-on-year.
The investment will be part of the company’s £1.5bn spend on land and build across 250 sites in the UK to deliver a total of 10,000 new homes over this period.
Ali Maruf, who joined the group in 1997, will become regional managing director for the division when it opens in September. He is currently land director for the area.
Clive Fenton, McCarthy & Stone’s chief executive, said: “The demand for high-quality retirement housing in north London and the northern Home Counties is growing substantially and we want to respond better to the needs of the local market.
“Opening our first regional office in 14 years in North London is vitally important to us as we look to meet our growth plans and double the size of the business.”
McCarthy & Stone sold 1,527 units across the UK in 2013 and is looking to sell more than 3,000 units a year by 2018.
In addition to the new north London region, the company expects to open further regional offices in 2015 and 2016, complementing its existing five regions in the South East, South West, Midlands, North and Scotland.
Maruf added: “We are experiencing a surging demand for our apartments across north London and the northern Home Counties and we know there are thousands of older people looking to downsize and live in properties more suitable to their changing lifestyles.
“To serve this area properly we need a dedicated operation in the region and we look forward to delivering our exciting plans to invest £300m in new developments in the area over the next four years to meet this demand.”
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
