Hello Sparky,
my wifes cousin and her husband live in a retirement home part of a complex where the actual place she lives is in a building block on the ground floor the building has three floors with lifts,
where she lives on this site there is a restaurant mainly run by the residents, but a daily chef and cook arrive on the site,
there is a variety of meals, on offer each day, and there is other amenities too such as a laundry room , an on site doctor and a nurse, both of who visits the site several times a week but in an emergency they can call them in or go to the surgery which as I understand it is very local. they have a cinema on site which is run once a week mainly by the residents them selves , which they pay five pounds a year each, there is a mini golf course and other amenities too .such as a laundry room, to have a meal in the restaurant you have to book a table the day before ,for your table ,
there is a bus which calls twice a day into town for people who cannot drive or own a car, ect,
to me, the down side is the service charge, and on top of that is the council tax as well, year on year, , so when you start going into all the financial side of living in these these places has to be looked at very hard , as service charges rise every year , and you have to allow for this as you know,
your not allowed to have your laundry on a clothes line out side your property as the laundry room has heater facilities to dry your laundry, so there are understandably restrictions in the do,s and don'ts
so sparky look at all the small print and if your still not sure perhaps you could speak to one of the actual resident living in these places to get a better idea and understanding of all that is involved, and not the management or sales staff ,who will try to persuade you , as its in their interest , a sort of bums on seats speech, so look at all the expenses involve before deciding , once committed there's little choice of turning back , so really think of and look at everything, before you decide,
I hope you find what your looking for but don't rush any thing until you have fully gone into all the nooks and crannies , before you decide , as this most likely will be your last move and you don't want to get it wrong,
good luck in what ever you decide, best wishes, alfred,