Image, VESTAR

A development site with planning submitted for a 66-bed care home is being marketed by Christie & Co.

Located within a 15-minute drive of Salcombe, the proposed scheme comprises a part two-storey, part three-storey care home with en-suite wetrooms.

In October 2024, award-winning developer, Frontier Estates Limited, submitted a full planning application to South Hams District Council for the ‘redevelopment of the site to provide a care home (use class C2) including access, parking, landscaping and other associated works’.

A decision is anticipated in the first quarter of 2025.

The current site measures 0.87 acres and comprises the two-storey former Avon Centre, associated outbuildings, and hardstanding. Residential properties are located to the south, north, and opposite the site, with a mature tree line to the rear and views of the small river.

Prominent access to the site is granted from Wallingford Road, which forms the immediate eastern boundary to the site.

The existing site entrance has been retained in the proposed plans.

A Desktop Planning Needs Assessment was carried out by Christie & Co’s in-house development team in October 2024.

The report, which considered a 10km radius, highlighted:

• Average house price in the area of circa £587,913
• Circa 36% of the population aged over 65 years
• No purpose-built care home provision in the catchment
• A current undersupply of 199 care home beds

Sara Hartill, associate director of healthcare development and investment at Christie & Co, said: “Kingsbridge is a highly-affluent pocket of Devon and presents a unique opportunity for care developers looking to expand into the south west with flagship locations.

“There is a clear undersupply of new-build care provision within the local area compounded by supportive fee analysis, and this scheme will undoubtedly form what will be the market-leading facility.”