Locations to retire to and why?
Discussion
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Have a 4 bed detached family home in West London suburbs. Really want to sell up in due course, and retire to.......a flat in Central London. Somewhere with a W1 postcode, Marylebone High St area maybe. Get rid of the car.(not very PH).
Wife not so keen on the idea!!!
Interestingly, we have a chance to take on my folks 3 bed London flat in Bloomsbury. Our youngest starts weekly boarding from Sept and we are seriously thinking of renting out our 5 bed Victorian terrace in the 'burbs and moving into townWife not so keen on the idea!!!
Sambucket said:
Portugal sounds tempting with the tax breaks.
I looked into spain for a but it's pretty punishing on taxes if you want to do the odd bit of self employed work which put me off.
Canada / OZ / USA are tempting but they don't make it easy. You would think USA had little to lose with admitting retirees reliant on private health, but apparently they don't have the space.
Always fancied the nordics, but never looked too deep. Do they let you in?
Australia has withdrawn retirement visas. Malaysia has probably the best retirement visa system (Malaysia My Second Home scheme)I looked into spain for a but it's pretty punishing on taxes if you want to do the odd bit of self employed work which put me off.
Canada / OZ / USA are tempting but they don't make it easy. You would think USA had little to lose with admitting retirees reliant on private health, but apparently they don't have the space.
Always fancied the nordics, but never looked too deep. Do they let you in?
Jaguar steve said:
There's nowhere in the UK I'd want to spend the rest of my life in so our solution has been to drastically downsize to a small cottage that's just big enough for the two of us that's still reasonably close to family and friends and can be locked and left for weeks.
That's freed up time and cash for the future but I couldn't make the the numbers work for foreign property ownership 20 years ago and still can't do now so our view forwards into full retirement is summer holidays traveling and sailing round Europe and long term villa rental through the winter months in the Canaries.
Sounds a good plan. Very similar to what I hope to do. That's freed up time and cash for the future but I couldn't make the the numbers work for foreign property ownership 20 years ago and still can't do now so our view forwards into full retirement is summer holidays traveling and sailing round Europe and long term villa rental through the winter months in the Canaries.
irocfan said:
not that far away TBH - currently live in Billericay, which is why we're looking at the options of moving. Nice town but already properly crowded, soon to have another 3k/3.5k new homes.... with no extra infrastructure 
For those moving out of London it'll likely seem like heaven (good size houses and cheaper) but now that we no longer need the train station we're looking at a premium for a redundant service
I'm not far so i know exactly how busy Billericay has gotten.For those moving out of London it'll likely seem like heaven (good size houses and cheaper) but now that we no longer need the train station we're looking at a premium for a redundant service
That said i hadn't realised there was a plan for another 3.5k houses!
superlightr said:
Jaguar steve said:
There's nowhere in the UK I'd want to spend the rest of my life in so our solution has been to drastically downsize to a small cottage that's just big enough for the two of us that's still reasonably close to family and friends and can be locked and left for weeks.
That's freed up time and cash for the future but I couldn't make the the numbers work for foreign property ownership 20 years ago and still can't do now so our view forwards into full retirement is summer holidays traveling and sailing round Europe and long term villa rental through the winter months in the Canaries.
Sounds a good plan. Very similar to what I hope to do. That's freed up time and cash for the future but I couldn't make the the numbers work for foreign property ownership 20 years ago and still can't do now so our view forwards into full retirement is summer holidays traveling and sailing round Europe and long term villa rental through the winter months in the Canaries.
Keeping retirement funds liquid and not tied up in property either here or abroad gives you freedom to do and go whatever and wherever you please and if you don't like where you end up then just get on airBnB and move on. It's the complete opposite to being tied to a much bigger house than you actually need in the UK or to any holiday home.
Our youngest grandchild starts school full time next Sept so she'll be pretty much off our hands by then and we've got the option of running our working lives down to nothing once that happens so off we go.
FocusRS3 said:
irocfan said:
not that far away TBH - currently live in Billericay, which is why we're looking at the options of moving. Nice town but already properly crowded, soon to have another 3k/3.5k new homes.... with no extra infrastructure
For those moving out of London it'll likely seem like heaven (good size houses and cheaper) but now that we no longer need the train station we're looking at a premium for a redundant service
I'm not far so i know exactly how busy Billericay has gotten.For those moving out of London it'll likely seem like heaven (good size houses and cheaper) but now that we no longer need the train station we're looking at a premium for a redundant service
That said i hadn't realised there was a plan for another 3.5k houses!
GreatGranny said:
Wow, saw the alerts in my inbox and thought I would update you on our situation if any interested.
We moved out of the village, partly because I was fed up of being a taxi for the kids and partly because of certain small minded petty ex. friends/neighbours who I couldn't be arsed trying to reason with.
Now kids can walk to school and to my youngest daughters part time job.
Still have a rented property in the village.
We're also in the middle of buying a flat in Cromer which may become a retirement home but in the meantime will holiday let it and use it when it's not let.
Still would like to have a place abroad for the winter so may sell up main house when kids have left and buy in Tenerife which we do like.
Glad that you found somewhere on the coast that you like and could make longer term plans for.We moved out of the village, partly because I was fed up of being a taxi for the kids and partly because of certain small minded petty ex. friends/neighbours who I couldn't be arsed trying to reason with.
Now kids can walk to school and to my youngest daughters part time job.
Still have a rented property in the village.
We're also in the middle of buying a flat in Cromer which may become a retirement home but in the meantime will holiday let it and use it when it's not let.
Still would like to have a place abroad for the winter so may sell up main house when kids have left and buy in Tenerife which we do like.
We moved up to the North Norfolk coast at West Runton to ‘give it a try’ for a year and that was 15 years ago!
We absolutely love it up here, this summer we moved from West Runton up to Aylmerton.
It really is a beautiful and rather special part of the world.
Regards Mike
Jaguar steve said:
We moved out of Danbury up to the rural Essex/Suffolk borders 5 years ago for that very reason. On the rare occasions I venture back into mid Essex I cannot believe how much worse road congestion and rampant house building has got since we left.
I have always been a fan of Danbury and some of the neighbouring villages a little further away from London such as Earls Colne and Heddingham although I can see up and down the A12 how much development has taken over. Venturing further out to Suffolk and then some to Norfolk the wife just wouldn’t wear unless the kids are working/living so far away and extra hour travel for them was Almost irrelevant.
I think, for the moment, whilst Frinton is only 50 mins from the main house we’ll stick to the plan.
Going back to an earlier post- yes Clacton etc are not places I’d ever consider living and thankfully Frinton seems right now a world away from the seaside ‘kiss me quick’ town that Clacton now is.
If that were to change I’d sell up in a heartbeat !
I do need next year to be venturing into Suffolk a little more but I’d want to be by the sea not really in a village
shirt said:
I’d like to have the resources to retire to northern Italy. Good food, wine, weather and old people just seem to hang around villages doing nothing in particular. Sounds good to me
That's my plan I have property in north Italy, in a lovely quite village with a bar and locals who hang around doing nothing but watching the trees sway, with a glass or three of wine, very peaceful. Many years before I retire, but the plan is there.Jaguar steve said:
FocusRS3 said:
irocfan said:
not that far away TBH - currently live in Billericay, which is why we're looking at the options of moving. Nice town but already properly crowded, soon to have another 3k/3.5k new homes.... with no extra infrastructure
For those moving out of London it'll likely seem like heaven (good size houses and cheaper) but now that we no longer need the train station we're looking at a premium for a redundant service
I'm not far so i know exactly how busy Billericay has gotten.For those moving out of London it'll likely seem like heaven (good size houses and cheaper) but now that we no longer need the train station we're looking at a premium for a redundant service
That said i hadn't realised there was a plan for another 3.5k houses!
All the traffic goes through Danbury and they will never build a bypass. its just insane these daysThey didn't bother building a hospital to go with all the new houses so you have got ambulances flying through every 5 minutes, sirens blazing. Still, carry on voting conservative, its not like they pretended they were going to build a bypass in the 1980's when the first mass of houses were built to get elected or anything, they would never lie.
On the subject of Frinton, I love it. Love the snobishness and love that fact that it is different. We can enjoy the identikit seaside towns but its nice to go somewhere....different. if you want pubs and fish and chip shops go somewhere else. If you want somewhere without those things, then you have it.Having said that, its nice to be able to get a fish and chips and sit in the motor overlooking the sea, then take a bracing walk. last time i was there we rented a hut and some fool had stolen all the taps along the sea front. Why? Some council spec second hand minging old taps worth about 10p each at a boot fair?. had to go all the way to the whalings to find some water, chap there was most perturbed at all the people filling up their kettle outside his gaff!
Stigproducts said:
On the subject of Frinton, I love it. Love the snobishness and love that fact that it is different. We can enjoy the identikit seaside towns but its nice to go somewhere....different. if you want pubs and fish and chip shops go somewhere else. If you want somewhere without those things, then you have it.Having said that, its nice to be able to get a fish and chips and sit in the motor overlooking the sea, then take a bracing walk. last time i was there we rented a hut and some fool had stolen all the taps along the sea front. Why? Some council spec second hand minging old taps worth about 10p each at a boot fair?. had to go all the way to the whalings to find some water, chap there was most perturbed at all the people filling up their kettle outside his gaff!
This is exactly why I enjoy Frimton. You can still get fish and chips from the town and take it down to the beach as most do so not a deal breaker for me.
The taps I think get disconnected on the main stretch of the beach at a certain time of year on the run up to winter is my understanding although I could be wrong on this.
What time of year did you go ?
There was a recent proposal to build a play area on the greensward which was quickly booted into touch and righty so. That greensward is what helps make Frinton the place it is.
If we end up there I’ll join the lawn tennis club and the golf club. The tennis club has 12 beautiful lawn courts.
Frinton has been resistant to change as it’s seen what’s happened to the likes of Clacton although lots has changed in the town over the last 4yrs with more bars and restaurants.
If you’ve not been go to the Hat And Mouse restaurant in the town . The food is just brilliant as the owner worked all over the world with some of the great chefs. He’s also a real character who takes no prisoners!
Those beach huts at the Wailings you mentioned sell for 40k if they ever come up for grabs.
Roll on better weather!
FocusRS3 said:
Jaguar steve said:
We moved out of Danbury up to the rural Essex/Suffolk borders 5 years ago for that very reason. On the rare occasions I venture back into mid Essex I cannot believe how much worse road congestion and rampant house building has got since we left.
I have always been a fan of Danbury and some of the neighbouring villages a little further away from London such as Earls Colne and Heddingham although I can see up and down the A12 how much development has taken over. The only part of Essex that's not turned into a suburb of London full of arsey people with coarse manners and inflicted with relentless house building and the resultant traffic carnage is the thin strip along the Suffolk border some way north of the A120. I breathe a sigh of relief on my way home once Braintree is behind me and I'm doing the last few miles through Gosfield and Sible Hedingham as all of a sudden another world of open fields and fast quiet roads appears.
Sunny in Dubai said:
shirt said:
I’d like to have the resources to retire to northern Italy. Good food, wine, weather and old people just seem to hang around villages doing nothing in particular. Sounds good to me
That's my plan I have property in north Italy, in a lovely quite village with a bar and locals who hang around doing nothing but watching the trees sway, with a glass or three of wine, very peaceful. Many years before I retire, but the plan is there.Ahhm oot.
FocusRS3 said:
Stigproducts said:
On the subject of Frinton, I love it. Love the snobishness and love that fact that it is different. We can enjoy the identikit seaside towns but its nice to go somewhere....different. if you want pubs and fish and chip shops go somewhere else. If you want somewhere without those things, then you have it.Having said that, its nice to be able to get a fish and chips and sit in the motor overlooking the sea, then take a bracing walk. last time i was there we rented a hut and some fool had stolen all the taps along the sea front. Why? Some council spec second hand minging old taps worth about 10p each at a boot fair?. had to go all the way to the whalings to find some water, chap there was most perturbed at all the people filling up their kettle outside his gaff!
The taps I think get disconnected on the main stretch of the beach at a certain time of year on the run up to winter is my understanding although I could be wrong on this. What time of year did you go ?
Those beach huts at the Wailings you mentioned sell for 40k if they ever come up for grabs.
Roll on better weather!
The taps were definitely stolen, it was talk of the town, the beach patrol people confirmed it. Coming soon to a boot fair, a (stolen) wire shopping basket form co-op, filled with some outside push taps that didn't sell. 20p each. Meanwhile the council contractors probably charged 3k to repair and replace. Broken Britain!
Stigproducts said:
Crazy prices but no where more relaxing IMO. I'll stick to renting one for the day as and where I need to. Last time I went (it was August BTW), some of the riff raff in adjacent huts were really quite disturbing. Just really coarse unpleasant people who you just know are operating off about 18 maxed out credit cards.
The taps were definitely stolen, it was talk of the town, the beach patrol people confirmed it. Coming soon to a boot fair, a (stolen) wire shopping basket form co-op, filled with some outside push taps that didn't sell. 20p each. Meanwhile the council contractors probably charged 3k to repair and replace. Broken Britain!
Interesting tks for the update. The taps were definitely stolen, it was talk of the town, the beach patrol people confirmed it. Coming soon to a boot fair, a (stolen) wire shopping basket form co-op, filled with some outside push taps that didn't sell. 20p each. Meanwhile the council contractors probably charged 3k to repair and replace. Broken Britain!
Im usually on top of the gossip so tks for updating me !
I do agree re beach hut prices and I’d rent one before I bought as we did look this summer with the full intention of buying one but both walked away thinking we were spending cash for the sake of it and until we live there it’ll be pointless.
There currently is a wave of people/councillors that want to turn it into the next Clacton-on-Sea but it’s fought hard to stop it happening.
Some plank wants to put in a play area on the greensward for example but thankfully that’s been kicked out .
The residents still have a good deal of say with what goes on and personally I pray it stays that way as the beach and the area currently are beautiful as you know .
However things have changed in the 5 years I’ve been an owner and eventually the old guard will find it hard to fend off the changes
ClaphamGT3 said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Have a 4 bed detached family home in West London suburbs. Really want to sell up in due course, and retire to.......a flat in Central London. Somewhere with a W1 postcode, Marylebone High St area maybe. Get rid of the car.(not very PH).
Wife not so keen on the idea!!!
Interestingly, we have a chance to take on my folks 3 bed London flat in Bloomsbury. Our youngest starts weekly boarding from Sept and we are seriously thinking of renting out our 5 bed Victorian terrace in the 'burbs and moving into townWife not so keen on the idea!!!
PositronicRay said:
Sunny in Dubai said:
shirt said:
I’d like to have the resources to retire to northern Italy. Good food, wine, weather and old people just seem to hang around villages doing nothing in particular. Sounds good to me
That's my plan I have property in north Italy, in a lovely quite village with a bar and locals who hang around doing nothing but watching the trees sway, with a glass or three of wine, very peaceful. Many years before I retire, but the plan is there.Ahhm oot.
Another source of enjoyment for them is stacking and restacking their pile of wood for the fire.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Great stuff glad it worked out for you . May I’m ask where in north essex ?
Seems to be an absolute stack of new developments in essex going north from Chelmsford.
We are still on track for our move 18 months from now . Can’t bloody wait tbh !
Glad you’ve managed to retire too
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