Where to retire in the UK
Discussion
Any suggestions as to go towns/cities to move to if you are retired (so don’t have to worry about the job market)?
Somewhere big enough to have enough to do and facilities without being overwhelming. Preferably with access to decent countryside and importantly, reasonable house prices.
Cities that we like and have considered in the past eg Bath seem to have suffered from their popularity and house prices are nuts. Our idea is to sell up and downsize whilst releasing some capital but it seems you can easily pay £500k for a two bed flat in Bath.
My wife has done some preliminary research and come across Lincoln. Not somewhere I would have considered but seems a bit like Bath/York but much more affordable.
Somewhere big enough to have enough to do and facilities without being overwhelming. Preferably with access to decent countryside and importantly, reasonable house prices.
Cities that we like and have considered in the past eg Bath seem to have suffered from their popularity and house prices are nuts. Our idea is to sell up and downsize whilst releasing some capital but it seems you can easily pay £500k for a two bed flat in Bath.
My wife has done some preliminary research and come across Lincoln. Not somewhere I would have considered but seems a bit like Bath/York but much more affordable.
HaplessBoyLard said:
I’m biased, having lived here most of my life, but Norfolk takes some beating.
If you want city life then Norwich has a bit of everything. A range of theatres and arts venues, decent pubs and restaurants, good shopping, lots of history. You’re never really very far away from open countryside either. I live 20 minutes/10 miles out of the city to the south and am surrounded by open fields in a well serviced village.
£400k will currently buy you a nice 3 bed terrace in the most desirable postcodes, walking distance to the centre of Norwich, or something a little further out (but not far) in a nice area with better parking and a bigger garden.
If you want country living then there’s plenty of villages within easy travelling distance of Norwich that offer proper country life with a decent village pub, where your budget will probably stretch to a pretty cottage of a decent size or possibly a barn conversion.
North Norfolk beaches are amongst the best in the country. Holkham and Wells especially. If you wanted to live coastal then North Norfolk is the place to be, but £400k doesn’t get you much up that way. Things get a bit rougher as you head east towards Yarmouth, but there are still places I’d consider living over there if the right house came up.
If I were retiring now, I’d be tempted by one of several villages North or NW of Norwich so I’d have easy access to the city and beaches.
Travelling south is a lot easier now that the A11 is dual all the way to London. I can hit the M25 in about 1 hr 40 from
Norwich. Getting out of Norfolk to the West isn’t so easy.
I’ve spent time at university in Lancaster, and have worked all over the country, and I don’t think much tops Norfolk for cost vs benefit.
I have spent a few months living in Dorset and Gloucestershire recently though, and loved both.
Quite some time back we lived for four years in Norwich and loved it. We did think about moving there when we returned to the U.K. from Switzerland. It is on our list. I think main downside is that it is quite far from the rest of the country. When we used to visit friends in Manchester it took for ever in the car and public transport is poor as you have to go South first to hit main routes. If you want city life then Norwich has a bit of everything. A range of theatres and arts venues, decent pubs and restaurants, good shopping, lots of history. You’re never really very far away from open countryside either. I live 20 minutes/10 miles out of the city to the south and am surrounded by open fields in a well serviced village.
£400k will currently buy you a nice 3 bed terrace in the most desirable postcodes, walking distance to the centre of Norwich, or something a little further out (but not far) in a nice area with better parking and a bigger garden.
If you want country living then there’s plenty of villages within easy travelling distance of Norwich that offer proper country life with a decent village pub, where your budget will probably stretch to a pretty cottage of a decent size or possibly a barn conversion.
North Norfolk beaches are amongst the best in the country. Holkham and Wells especially. If you wanted to live coastal then North Norfolk is the place to be, but £400k doesn’t get you much up that way. Things get a bit rougher as you head east towards Yarmouth, but there are still places I’d consider living over there if the right house came up.
If I were retiring now, I’d be tempted by one of several villages North or NW of Norwich so I’d have easy access to the city and beaches.
Travelling south is a lot easier now that the A11 is dual all the way to London. I can hit the M25 in about 1 hr 40 from
Norwich. Getting out of Norfolk to the West isn’t so easy.
I’ve spent time at university in Lancaster, and have worked all over the country, and I don’t think much tops Norfolk for cost vs benefit.
I have spent a few months living in Dorset and Gloucestershire recently though, and loved both.
anonymous said:
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Just in case the youngsters are confused by the referencehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aNaXdLWt17A
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