Legal & General launches part-exchange ‘Home Purchasing Service’ for Inspired Villages’ retirement homes

Legal & General announces the launch of its part-exchange ‘Home Purchasing Service’ (HPS), now being rolled out across its Inspired Villages retirement communities. 

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Legal & General announces the launch of its part-exchange ‘Home Purchasing Service’ (HPS), now being rolled out across its Inspired Villages retirement communities. As Inspired Villages looks to facilitate a stress-free home buying process for its customers, the new HPS, which began being trialled in Q4 2020, has already received notable interest and results.

Potential residents using the HPS will see their property valued by three independent estate agents, with Legal & General offering a guaranteed cash sale at 95% of fair market value*. Current sales using the HPS have reduced exchange times from an average of 6 months to just 4 weeks, with negotiable move in dates**.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on where people live and the communities around them, particularly the vulnerable and those in later life.  As people now choose to make important lifestyle changes, the HPS has been launched by Legal & General and Inspired Villages to smooth some of the stress of moving and being part of a chain sale process. According to data from Quick Move Now, one in four sales fell through before completion in 2019. A survey from Which? also highlighted anxiety related to moving home, which was rated the second most stressful life event, after divorce, by respondents. This new policy aims to remove the burden of selling a home on the open market; by offering an attractive, stress-free and faster option for those wanting – or needing - to move into a well-run retirement community.

For those in later years, trapped in homes which are no longer safe or fit-for-purpose, the accelerated process could be critical to their long-term wellbeing.

Due to age-appropriate design, wellness facilities and services which enable quality of life, studies have shown that living in a retirement community leads to a 46% decrease in the number of planned GP visits and retirement village residents experience a 31% decrease in planned hospital admissions. As pressure on the NHS reaches critical levels, with 7,000 fewer beds available in England, Legal & General’s HPS policy should also help alleviate pressure on the health service as it looks to speed up the moving process to its communities which offer residents access to on-site care, as and when required.

 

* assuming the property meets certain criteria such as :

- freehold

- strong nearby comparables

- over 95 years left of the lease

- no refurbishment required

- Clean title

- Valued below £1.5m

 

**If residents’ properties sell over expected value, Legal & General will share 80% of any upside, above the agreed threshold. Legal & General will also undertake a refurbishment programme, if required to maximise value and speed up the sale, and commits to cover all related agent’s and surveying fees and contribute towards moving costs.