Plans for a brand new £11.6m retirement village in the Doxford Park area of Sunderland have been announced by Gentoo thanks to over £1m investment from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Included in the plans is a state of the art Extra Care facility as well as 40 Extra Care apartments, 40 older persons apartments and 14 bungalows. The new development will create a vibrant community where residents can continue to live independently alongside their neighbours. It is the next step for Gentoo in Extra Care housing after the success of Cherry Tree Gardens based in Houghton-le-Spring.

Residents from the existing Croftside House will be moving to the new development and have been involved in making decisions for their new home, including the responsibility of choosing its name. After much deliberation the residents chose Haddington Vale for the Extra Care building, with the neighbouring street being named Knightswood. Eliza Appleby, 94, Croftside's longest-serving resident, explained that they based the names on Scottish golf courses to coincide with all of the street names within the Doxford Park redevelopment area.


Haddington Vale and Knightswood will include a range of communal facilities, including a hairdressers, residents lounge, games room and fully landscaped gardens, together with a specially designed Dementia Garden.

Work starting on the development comes as Sunderland City Council announce they are expecting to see a rise in over 65s to 59,500 by 2015, up from 45,500 in 2005. The new scheme takes into account standards set by HAPPI – the Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation who found that good quality housing for older people in accessible neighbourhoods can bring considerable benefits to their lives. Gentoo aim to provide a ‘home for life’and to promote independent living within community based surroundings, enabling people to access care and support tailored to meet their individual needs.

Peter Walls, Chief Executive of Gentoo said: "We all come to these junctions in life where we have to plan for the future. It is our intention to provide the best housing we can, with state of the art facilities for those who need it now and also for future generations. It will be a big change for the residents, but a change that we can all look forward to together."

The development was part funded by the HCA after Gentoo submitted a bid for funding under their 2011–2015 Affordable Homes Programme. Included within the bid was the Doxford Park Extra Care Scheme which was allocated a total of £1.4m.

(CD/GK)