Peach Living – Co-living for grown-ups

Co-living has been a growing trend over the last few years. Popular amongst urban young professionals and ‘digital nomads’ in their 20s and 30s who share communal spaces in usually large-scale developments, with a big focus on shared lifestyle – co-working areas, yoga classes and cafes on site.

But where are the equivalents for people over 40? For people who value quality and personal space, decent room sizes and smaller-scale developments to really get to know each other and live together in the longer term.

So far, there is barely anything available on the market. Which is why we were excited to hear about Peach Co-Living – a new development just opening its doors this month. Rob Fenton and Richard Purseglove developed the Peach Co-Living concept and are about to open their beautifully restored Harken House in the town centre of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, with 8 high-spec rooms available for proper grown-ups, as they call it.  

What is Peach Co-Living and who is it for?

Peach Co-Living is a new lifestyle concept for communal living for established professionals, whether you are single or an empty nester. Think luxury boutique hotel surroundings but without the utility bills, property upkeep or cleaning to consider. People who come to live here come for the longer-term, as a lifestyle choice, to make new friends and to thoroughly enjoy their home life in the company of others. We organise events, like wine tastings and cookery classes. There are 8 double bedrooms, each with luxury en-suite bathroom, including walk-in waterfall showers, a large high-end kitchen and a secluded courtyard for summer barbecues and evening drinks. The kitchen and dining area is a place to socialise, with plenty of space for everyone to cook and spend time together; we have two of everything – hobs, ovens, fridges.

What made you come up with the project in the first place?

Purseglove Property has specialised in HMO’s for over 9 years and we have seen the benefits that co-living can bring to people’s lives. Not only is it a more affordable and convenient way to live for many, but the benefits of others living around you whilst having your own private space to retire to can have an extremely positive influence on your wellbeing. This has never been more prevalent than over the past 15 months where most people have experienced the feeling of isolation to some degree.

In our experience, co-living tends to be favoured by younger people and the more mature generation have either never heard of it, or have had limited exposure to the benefits of it.

Rich & Gemma from Purseglove Property have carried out a huge amount of market research into isolation and loneliness and the impact it has on wellbeing.  They met with housing officers from the local councils, Adult Social Care at Nottinghamshire County Council and groups like Age Concern, and established that there was a need for a different type of co-living among more mature adults – one that combined the accommodation element with a very high level of service without being intrusive. Adult Social Care are moving towards a more proactive approach to “ageing well” and encouraging people who are still relatively young, circa 50-55yrs to start and think about where they want to be as they age. Research shows that if people have not moved by the aged of 70, the place they move to is not seen as “home” and therefore taking that decision at a much earlier age instead of waiting until “crisis point” where they have a fall or deterioration of a medical condition could mean they remain at home for a much longer period before needing care of some kind.

We feel that what we’re offering in conjunction with Peach Co-Living is the ideal solution for people to live their best life and maintain their independence for as long as possible.

How did you choose the location?

Harken House was chosen because it is on a good quality residential street, close to the town centre and its amenities, close to transport links, is completely detached, and is on a large corner plot. This enabled the property to be extended to the side and rear to create large communal spaces whilst retaining a large amount of garden space for both communal and private purposes (3 ground floor bedrooms have a private garden).

How many of the rooms are still available?

Currently 8 bedrooms are available, as refurbishments have just completed.

If this sounds like an interesting concept contact us to find out more.