<p><span>McCarthy &amp; Stone has announced a significant land buying drive, with the retirement housebuilder intending to buy 60 or more sites over the next year in response to the prime minister Boris Johnson’s call to “build, build, build”, it said.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>These sites will produce retirement communities of private apartments and bungalows across a range of tenures featuring onsite care and support services, McStone said. They are set to be in or close to high streets, which the company said supported the government’s intention to revitalise town centres.</span></p> <p><span>McStone predicts a “strong increase” in demand for retirement living, with the 65+ population predicted to increase by around 5 million people over the next 20 years, it said. It added that its 441 existing schemes had proven to be safe places to live during the pandemic, “where the impact of the virus has been around half that seen among the 65+ population generally”.</span></p> <p><span>The company has purchased around 200 sites over the past four years, with the 60 new sites complementing these and likely to range between 0.5 to 5 acres, “ideally in a prominent location and with level access”.</span></p> <p><span>McStone has seen Covid-19 batter its financial performance, </span><span>with legal completions down …