A HUGE new retirement village with restaurant, bar and swimming pool on the site of a former Bible  translation centre has opened to the public.

Audley Wycliffe Park has opened a new £80 million development on the site of the former Wycliffe Centre in Horsleys Green, which was used as a conference centre and for Bible translation for 41 years until 2013.

The new retirement village, on Bigmore Lane between Stokenchurch and West Wycombe, boasts 156 properties for the over 60s. 

The site is run by Audley Group in a joint venture partnership with the Royal London Pension Property Fund. 

Each house, cottage or apartment in the retirement village is sold with a lease of up to 250 years (length of lease varies by village).

The Audley Group market the homes on its website as: "It is your home, held as your own asset – and, of course, you are free to sell at any stage, on the open market. So you are able to enjoy the benefits of a continued investment in a property of your own."

The 25-acre village also boasts a library, restaurant and bar, swimming pool and luxury health club.

Plans to overhaul the Wycliffe Centre into a supported living community were first put forward by Salmon Harvester Properties in 2014 after they bought the site from the Wycliffe Foundation.

The original application for 169 units was given permission by the council, but the scheme was not financially viable so did not go ahead in the end.

Fresh plans were put forward in 2017 and were given the green light.

Salmon Harvester Properties sold the site to the Royal London Pension Property Fund in 2018.

Nick Sanderson, CEO of Audley Group, commented: “It is fantastic to celebrate the opening of our second village here in Buckinghamshire. Set at the foot of the beautiful Chiltern Hills, the area is surrounded by stunning countryside and market towns that I’m sure many of our owners will enjoy.

“It continues to be a real pleasure to open new villages, especially with new JV partners like Royal London, as we tackle the undersupply of age specific housing in the UK.

"It’s incredibly important that we continue to give people more choice over how and where they live as they get older and, crucially, provide options that put health and wellbeing at the core, to enable people to live independent and healthy lives for longer.

“I look forward to visiting the village in the coming weeks and months as we welcome more owners and become a part of the local community.”

Visit https://www.audleyvillages.co.uk/retirement-villages/wycliffe-park for more details.