Later-Living Developers Merge to Form UK's Largest Retirement Village Provider

Two of the UK’s leading later-living developers, Audley Group and Elysian Residences, have announced a merger to form the country’s largest retirement village provider. The combination creates a new group company with external investment from institutional funds, boasting a combined sales value of over £3 billion and a total pipeline of more than 30 retirement villages comprising approximately 3,000 individual properties.

The merger will retain all three existing retirement-village brands, including Audley Group’s luxury Audley Villages and mid-market Mayfield Villages, alongside Elysian. The new corporate group will be led by Gavin Stein as chief executive and Nick Sanderson as chair, with Stein remaining CEO of Elysian Residences and Sanderson continuing as CEO of Audley and Mayfield.

“After many years of knowing and respecting Nick, we are delighted that our two companies are coming together and, with our new investors, we will provide a best-in-market retirement-living business of real scale and expertise,” said Stein. “This is further proof of the great potential in the rapidly growing residential sector, where we will be at the forefront of driving change, embracing new ideas and identifying innovative solutions for our customers and investors.”

The merger addresses a critical scale challenge in the UK’s retirement housing sector, which reached a pipeline of 30,000 homes in 2024 but falls far short of the 50,000 units per year needed to meet growing demand from the aging population. Sanderson emphasized the urgency of addressing this shortage, noting that investors have recognized the benefits of long-term secure income streams that retirement villages offer.

“This sector needs scale. It is still very small, given the size of the opportunity and the growing older population, and this is a first step to expediting the additional retirement housing units the country so desperately needs,” Sanderson explained. The timing appears strategic, with £1.25 billion invested and committed to the retirement housing market in 2024, and investment expected to increase further in 2025 according to property firm Knight Frank.

Stephen Musgrave, chair of Elysian Residences, described the combination as transformational for the sector. “The merger of two market leaders in retirement living is a transformational move for the sector and firmly establishes it as an asset class in its own right,” he said. “It is 11 years since Gavin established Elysian Residences, and he and Nick will forge this new market leader for the benefit of all the customers, investors and the outstandingly loyal teams that have been built up over the years.”

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