In the world of property investment, assisted living is proving a real talking point at the moment.

Guaranteed Income and Fast Profit" - Are the Claims About Assisted Living Investments True?

In the UK (as in many places in the world) we have an ageing population. But what we also have is a significant problem with social care. A shortage of care homes, a shortage of care workers and a big funding gap are proving a real problem.

But on top of that, many of our ageing population would also quite like to maintain some living independence. As the result, assisted living is something of a hybrid between care home living and living completely alone.

In a nutshell, assisted living facilities are typically made up self contained apartments or flat within a facility where support and care staff are on hand.

This is superb for both elderly people and also those with certain physical or mental disabilities that may mean they need some extra support with day to day living tasks.

So, assisted living is proving a popular solution.

But (and here's where it gets interesting from an investment perspective), demand is far outstripping supply right now. Estimates suggest we need another 500,000 or so assisted living units to meet demand in the UK and our population continues to age - so demand is likely to continue to soar too.

This means new facilities are being built rapidly and this presents an opportunity for property investors to get involved.

The Appeals for Investors

The typical rental yield on an assisted living property is between 9 and 10%, which is strong indeed.

But it only takes a quick look online to see some pretty bold claims like "guaranteed income" and "fast profit."

Are they true?

Well let's take a look at the guaranteed income claim first. Some providers will indeed offer guarantees around rental income. The reason it's easier to make such guarantees with assisted living is the fact that there is such high demand. Add to that the fact that many tenants are in the properties with some government funding, and it results in much more stable tenanting.

In some cases, assisted living properties are not even offered to investors until they're tenanted.

So for regular rental income, this is a reliable option.

As for fast profit? Well, we all have different opinions on what "fast" is. But figures from https://www.assistedliving-investments.co.uk/ show that an initial investment of £200,000 could return £130 in profit in 3 years. This is based on 3 years at 10% yields and then a buy back at year 3 from the developer who will try and sell your property as party of a collective block to a pension fund like Canada life. With a deal like this your property can not be sold for anything less than 30% what you paid for it and this is only triggered after 3 years of receiving rent so this becomes a very financially healthy exit plan

*Calculations based on a property value £200,000 Sales price £400,000 | Seller to receive the first 30% £60,000 plus his original purchase cost of £200,000 ( 260k ) The remaining £140,000 is split between the developer and the seller. | Seller receives £260,000 plus £70,000 = £330,000

Now it could be possible to buy a property, renovate it and sell it yourself in a matter of less than a year and make a profit. But of course there are so many variables in that.

So assisted living, looking at yields, the reliability of tenanting and the buy back options, is a strong investment option for those looking for something in property a little bit different to buy to let.