The developer, which has delivered over 56,000 homes across the UK since 1977, said it will prioritise selling completed homes over restarting construction.

Its current stock of 1,350 homes is worth £325 million, according to The Times. The developer also received government support worth around £300 million during the COVID-19 pandemic.

McCarthy & Stone has stressed that the 441 retirement communities it manages have suffered a lower rate of deaths during the pandemic than the overall retired population.

Clyde Lewis, an analyst at Peel Hunt, told The Times: “This sort of data may well lead to increased support from central government, which has been lacking in the past couple of decades.”