Back in the High Life Again

As retirement apartments go, the accommodation seems a bit limited and access is not exactly easy. But the views would be stupendous!
I’m not sure why such a big (it’s got a red light on the top, to warn off low flying aircraft) crane is needed to build these retirement apartments. One can only assume that they’re going up quite high - which is going to heartily piss off the residents of the existing retirement apartments next door, which are only a couple of storeys high.
When I moved to Kendal thirty years ago we had a renowned garden centre (Webbs) and a courthouse on this road. The garden centre was sold off for retirement housing several years ago and - after standing derelict for a few years - the courthouse is now following suit. Some of the apartments will no doubt be described as having a “river view”, but the majority will look out over a small industrial estate.
However, the biggest question in my mind is who is going to buy these apartments? Speaking as a retired person, I much prefer living in a house with a garden and, as most of my contemporaries live similarly, I suspect we are not the target market. It’s just that “retired” is a more attractive term from a marketing point of view than “old”.
And I’m not sure Kendal needs any more housing for old people. It’s the young people who struggle to get on the property ladder around here and if we want to prevent Kendal turning into a ghost town we need to make it easier for them to live in the town.
I suspect that, in common with many properties in the Lake District, they will be bought by - older - London folk to use as a holiday home. I can only hope there is a clause in the sale agreement preventing these new apartments from being used for Airbnb. But I don’t think there is any way you can stop someone buying an apartment and only using it sporadically as long as they pay all the ground rents and service charges on time. Since Brexit we need more of our own young people to take jobs in the - traditionally low paid - service/tourist sector. But they’re not going to do that if there is nowhere affordable for them to live. Let’s hope the next housing development around here will redress the balance.