Having heard so much about the new art cafe Googies and given the weather on Sunday was a little extreme so gardening was definitely off the menu I decided to pop along to the Sunday happening at Googies - music and poetry was promised and it had to be better than a wet afternoon watching TV I thought.

I arrived a little late, Folkestone seemed absolutely empty - un-surprisingly as it was dark, wet and windy - but the door to Googies was open and it was warm and friendly inside and I took my seat at one of the tables. Steve came along to take my order of Moroccan lamb stew and I settled down to enjoy the afternoon.

Musicians kept a-coming in carrying their guitars..and the music (solos, duets, singers) and poetry readings flowed seamlessly compered by the enthusiastic and supportive Trevor. Some of the musicians I recognised as being well known local musicians and some were, as far as I could tell, new to the local music scene. Poetry readings interspersed the music - local people who had created lyrical prose - Louis, Sharon, Di and Dan all controlling their first time nerves to complete their readings to appreciative applause. It felt like a gathering of friends and when certain well loved songs were recognised we joined in with the phrases that we knew.

I was sitting close to Di, who had read some poems earlier, we were chatting about the musicians and how relaxing the afternoon had been - she summed it up in one word, it was Googielicious and she was right.

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Pros and Cons of this type of retirement development…………….

Laurel Court is situated in Stanley Road, Cheriton, Folkestone on the old unused diary site. The 70 recently built apartments are laid out over 3 floors, with wheelchair access to each floor via a lift. It`s main purpose is to house the retired person (55+) who wants an independant lifestyle whilst having the benefit of company of like minded people in a communal living environment. The estate and day to day management is run by Peverel Retirement Ltd, although the homes are built by McCarthy and Stone. The main features of the development are:

Each apartment, and in fact any communal area, is impeccably presented with tasteful decor and furniture. It is a high quality living standard but it does comes at a hefty cost. However, the development is aimed at the cash rich retired person who probably is trading down from a larger home. The apartments start at around £155,000 and some of the larger 2 bed flats were advertised at over £210,000 when first put on the market. The recent property slump has seen many of the homes unsold and most are still empty after 2 years. Monthly living costs are around £410 for the Service Charge, which benefits all facilities except the catering service.

I can validate the high quality catering service provided. The chef is excellent and produces very well proportioned meals and goes to the trouble of tailoring individual portions to the residents tastes or needs. The day time 3 course meal is served at 1pm by table staff (who also double up as cleaners for the apartments and building). In the event of illness, meals can even be taken to the resident’s apartment. The daily charge for the meal is about £4.50 per head. Of course, each resident still has to pay electricity, rates and contents insurance bills, as in line with owning your own property.

Each day, after lunch, tea and coffee refreshments are available in the Residents Lounge. During the afternoon, a selection of home made cakes, biscuits or pastries are available for residents and their guests. The chefs excellent culinary skills are very much appreciated by the residents and visitors. Although each apartment has a fitted kitchen as standard, the option of cooked meals is a bonus.

Assisted Living

Peveral state in their sales pitch the following:

Assisted Living bridges the gap between conventional independent retirement living and a residential care or nursing home. An Assisted Living development gives residents the same sense of freedom as Independent Living, while providing easy access to additional facilities.

In my own experience this isn`t really the whole truth. If you have a health problem, Peverel aren`t medically trained nor offer to assist in such matters. What you effectively get is a Warden on duty 24 hours who will call or let in Ambulance, NHS personell or Carers to assist. This is “Care” in the very loose sense. Essentially you do not get above and beyond what I have seen in some rental properties such as Housing 21 properties. The only difference with those is that the apartment sizes tend to be smaller although strangley enough the service charges are almost identical.

Dont expect much more than caring staff as opposed to ”Care” treatment. It is well short of any nursing standards you may well require.

Other benefits

Guest Suite

Handy if you want additional help to put up visiting friends or family that may wish to stay overnight.  There is an en-suite shower room, a television and tea and coffee making facilities, just like a quality hotel.

Laundry Room

Incorporating a range of quality washing machines and separate dryers, which are conveniently raised for easy loading and unloading.  In many developments, the laundry room has become another popular meeting place.

CCTV And Door Entry System

A TV camera at the main entrance allows you to view visitors on your TV before deciding whether to let them in.  You can even talk to them on the intercom and unlock the door without having to leave your apartment.

Intruder And Smoke Alarm

All McCarthy & Stone developments also include an intruder and smoke alarm system in both individual apartments and the communal areas

Staff

All of the staff are very nice natured and well mannered. Up until now, due to the limited number of people living there, they really have not been pushed at all doing their jobs. At the weekend the regular staff are replaced with ‘temporary staff’ who speak very good English and are well educated but really dont make the effort to converse. A bit aloof is what I would describe them as.

I do have some reservations about Laurel Court

Although the development does what it says on the tin so to speak, there is an aspect to communal living that is a prerequisite. That is the residents making the best of their fortunate financial situation and turning it into a nice pleasant environment. Sadly, I cannot really say that this is the case at Laurel Court. I have found that there are one or two quite unsavoury characters living there. Foul and persistant language is evident and unacceptable rudeness toward staff and other residents has been witnessed. It certainly is a pity as this premium lifestyle is certainly compromised by the actions of the few.

Those of a delicate nature looking for a relaxed environment, may well find the name calling and general cynical remarks by certain residents, causing unhappiness. Peverel claim that they are not responsible for the actions of residents whilst in the public communal areas. I beg to differ. The straight facts are that persistent uncalled for remarks, usually denegrating the character of individuals, is an every day occurrence. If talking about others` business and your health are the focus of your own conversational preferences then Laurel Court may well be for you! Some  residents now prefer to stay in their own flats rather than join the little “cliche” who gather in the residents lounge. More is the pity because it could be the ideal place to live in  retirement years.

With the cost of buying the property and service charges, this makes living at Laurel Court a high cost investment for the retirement years ahead. I have found that there are cheaper options such as other local warden operated apartments, lease, rental and purchase, for around £60,000 less and that saving would get delivered Meals-on-Wheels for many a year to follow. Less favourable is the 1% selling fee when the property is sold on. This unecessary fee is payable to McCarthy and Stone for what I reason I fail to see. You still have to pay the selling Agents fee too.

It is clear that this is a lucurative market in selling to the elderly.  Just take a look at how Saga made its Billions. This type of venture is aimed at targeting cash rich older people by offering peace of mind and relieving them of their cash for the benefit of it. But nothing is underhand, nobody is forced or coerced to make a purchase - which is fair enough.

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