A new study has ranked the nation’s cities for how well they address the needs of retirees.
Profile Pensions, in its latest research report, has investigated what the right ingredients are that makes a good city for retirees.
The study, examined a host of factors, including typical property prices (both for normal and retirement properties), crime rate per capita, the number of cafes and pubs, the number of parks and churches, and also what level of entertainment and activities are available to older people, such as bingo, bowls, cinemas and golf clubs.
So, what are the 10 best, and worst, places you can retire in the UK?
The seaside town of Plymouth came out top in the research, with the study highlighting its “significant” number of parks, affordable homes, proximity to the sea and large number of religious centres as big selling points.
With a typical retirement property costing £130,000 in the city, it’s certainly more likely to fit into plenty of pensioner’s budgets than some of the more expensive locations detailed in the report.
Another strong performer was Southampton, which performed well based on the highest density of cinemas and pubs of any of the cities investigated.
Third spot went to Nottingham, with the study highlighting its affordable housing and easy access to a host of golf courses.
Liverpool was the second cheapest place to pick up a retirement property in the top 10, with its average price of £100,000 second only to the average £72,475 in Derby.
Here is how the top 10 cities for retirees shape up:
- Plymouth
- Southampton
- Nottingham
- Cardiff
- Derby
- Liverpool
- Leicester
- Bristol
- Wolverhampton
- Manchester
At the other end of the scale, perhaps unsurprisingly, London comes last of the 30 cities in the study, with the capital described as “far from the best place to retire”.
It adds: ‘With the highest cost homes – both standard and retirement homes – it’s not a cheap investment.”
“And although it has a high number of entertainment options, considering the size of the city, these are comparatively limited across the board in terms of density.
“Green spaces suffer too, with golf courses and lawn bowls clubs scarcer in the capital.”
Another poor performer is Milton Keynes, just ahead of Doncaster.
Here is how the bottom 10 line up:
- London
- Milton Keynes
- Doncaster
- Wakefield
- Leeds
- Bradford
- Rotherham
- Sheffield
- Swansea
- Sunderland