Is this the start of the “New Normal”? – Owl

A property developer owned by a French investment management group has announced an ambitious £2bn plan to build 5,000 retirement homes across 40 urban sites in the UK over the next decade.

Julia Kollewe www.theguardian.com

As town and city centres are being reshaped as a result of the changes to UK high streets accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, Retirement Villages Group (RVG) said it had won planning permission for a £110m retirement community of 196 one and two-bed apartments to rent or buy in central West Byfleet in Surrey, on the site of a 1960s office block with shops and a car park, which will be knocked down.

In its first move into north-west England, the company, which was acquired by Axa Investment Managers’ property arm in 2017, has also won the go-ahead for a new £65m village of 147…