Reaching retirement age is a big celebration for many, but making sure you settle down in the right place is the most important aspect of retiring. From the funds that could be released when downsizing your property to local amenities and more, we’ve put together the ultimate Retirement Index to reveal the best places to retire.
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According to our Great British Retirement Index, the best place to retire is Plymouth. The port city in South West England is known for its maritime heritage and historic Barbican district. For people looking to retire, Plymouth has the most parks and religious and sacred sites per 100,000 people in our Index, and, on average, you’re likely to make £94,485 when downsizing your home.
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In second place is Brighton and Hove, a stunning seaside town on the south coast of England. With 12.37 cafes per 100,000 people, retirees will have plenty of options for a relaxed afternoon tea with sea views. You could also get an incredible £222,052 on average for downsizing your property in the area.
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Finally, taking the third spot is Cardiff. In the Welsh capital city, you could rent a tennis court for an hour on the weekend for £7.71, or join a fitness club for £25.92 a month. Also, according to national crime data, Cardiff has only recorded a total of 87 crimes per 1,000 people in March 2021.
Take a look at The Great British Retirement Index below to help you decide on where to celebrate your retirement.
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per 100,000 people
per 100,000 people
per 100,000 people
per 1,000 population
per 1 Adult
for 1 hour on the weekend
when downsizing
We looked at various factors from several sources listed below for each of the UK’s most populated towns and cities.
Used for collecting data for the number of Religious and Sacred sites, parks and cafes.
Used for collecting data for the cost of a Fitness Club Monthly Fee for one and a 1-hour rent on a tennis court.
Collected from ONS ‘Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2021’ dataset.
Average saving when downsizing:
All average house price data was sourced from Zoopla and was correct as of September 28th 2021. We took the average asking price of a one, two, three, four and five-bedroom property and calculated the price difference between each (difference between five and four-bed, four and three-bed and so on) and also took an average of these four saving figures to find the average saving when downsizing.
The Great British Retirement Score is calculated using a weighted ranking formula that normalises the data and weighs it by the factors described above. This normalisation then calculates the results to get a score out of 10 to be ranked.
