We Thought Retirement Living Could Be Different
Common Ground Retirement Living began with a question: why does retirement so often mean choosing between staying completely independent or moving into a large established village? We thought there had to be something in between, and we built it.
The Idea Behind Common Ground
The conversation that sparked Common Ground is one most people have had at some point. Friends sitting around after a good weekend away, half-joking about all retiring somewhere together. Usually someone starts sketching out the imaginary compound and everyone laughs.
But underneath the joke is a pretty good idea.
The people we choose to spend our lives with do not suddenly become less important when we retire. In many ways, having good people close by becomes even more valuable. We started asking why retirement living so rarely reflected that.
We also asked why maintaining your independence had to mean continuing to shoulder all the responsibilities of owning a home. What if someone else took care of the grounds, maintenance and repairs? What if healthcare and practical support were nearby, but did not intrude on your life? And what if your home had already been designed to adapt discreetly if your needs changed?
Common Ground was our answer.
Small Groups, Not Large Communities
We built Common Ground around small groups rather than one large community. The difference matters.
You can live beside friends without living with them. You can have wonderful shared facilities without sharing them with hundreds of other residents. You can be social without having your social life organised for you. And you can have the security of knowing help is available without having support services define the way you live.
All of that, without giving up the privacy and independence of a home that is completely your own.
Quality Without Compromise
Common Ground is deliberately a premium development. We believe downsizing should not mean downgrading.
Our homes, landscaping, shared facilities and wider development are designed and finished to a high standard, because the people moving here have often spent decades creating homes they love. We want the next one to feel every bit as good.
That same thinking applies to the practical side of our homes. Accessibility has been considered from the beginning, so that features can be incorporated discreetly rather than making a home look or feel like somewhere designed for old age.
Your Retirement Should Still Look Like You
Above all, Common Ground is about choice.
Spend Friday night at the restaurant with twenty people.
Spend Saturday around the pool with six of your oldest friends.
Spend Sunday afternoon in your own garden with the gate shut.
Have someone clean the house every week, or happily do it yourself. Use the support available to you now, later, or not at all. They are all equally valid ways to live here.
Retirement is not about suddenly becoming a different person. It is about finally having more time to live the way you choose.
Common questions
Common Ground was created by a team who saw a gap between two retirement options that did not suit everyone: full independent homeownership on one hand, and large established village living on the other. The development was designed to offer something genuinely different, small private neighbourhoods where groups of friends can retire together without giving up independence or privacy.
Accessibility has been built into the design of Common Ground homes from the beginning. Features are incorporated discreetly so that homes can adapt to changing needs over time without looking or feeling like they were designed for old age.
At Common Ground, premium means the homes, landscaping, shared facilities and wider development are all designed and finished to a high standard. The goal is that your next home feels as good as the one you spent years creating, not like a compromise.
Both are entirely valid ways to live at Common Ground. You might spend one evening at a group dinner and the next afternoon in your own garden with the gate shut. The development is built around choice, not a prescribed way of living.
Common Ground is designed so that grounds, maintenance and repairs are taken care of, freeing you from the practical responsibilities of homeownership. Contact the team for specifics on what is included.
Get in touch
If you are thinking about retiring near your friends and want to know more about how the development works, the team is happy to talk it through.