Where would you retire to from these choices?

[Shyandretiringtype]

Wise mumsnetters, I need your input!

my recently retired mother is a social housing tenant in South London and needs to downsize.

There is a scheme to relocate older people out of the city to seaside and countryside bungalows and in order to free up London properties for families who need them. She needs to be within reach of South East London and Tonbridge on public transport ideally, as her children live in these areas and don’t drive. So Kent is looking most likely.

Areas on offer are:

Ramsgate
Deal/Walmer
Faversham
Birchington-on-Sea

Being a social housing scheme, she will be relocated to a social housing property. Mostly retirement bungalows, so I’m hoping they’ll be full of similarly aged people she can hopefully make friends with. I’m worried about her being isolated tbh but she’s adamant she’s had enough of London.

Does anyone have any feedback on these areas? TIA!

I have no advice, but what a great scheme! It's freeing up city housing, and giving some older people opportunity to retire to a less busy area. I hope your mum makes the best decision for all of you. It might sound like a good idea to her, but make sure there are doctors available, and ask her what happens in 10 or 15 years when she may need more family help?

Faversham has an excellent minor injuries unit with xray. All walkable, depending where the bungalows are. Birchington is quite near QEQM which is huge.

@Boomboom22 QEQM is a very very poor hospital. East Kent is scandalous for the poor quality of heslthcare.

Birchington is a lovely place, right on the sea. An older community so caters well for that demographic. Calm, clean and tidy place. Train station and cheerful small town/large village.I would 100% choose that. Why not visit your short list?

As your mother has 'recently' retired I assume she is late sixties.
As someone in her late seventies, I would reiterate what others have said - think 10 years ahead to how feasible some of these towns are in terms of transport, health services especially.
She may well be fit and healthy now (as I was 10 years ago) but that does not last for ever.

Unfortunately, outside of London, services are very poor for the amount of council tax paid.
Public transport is likely to get even worse.

Could she transfer to a retirement property in Tonbridge instead? Waiting lists are normally fairly short for these even in the south-east.

Bexhill, Eastbourne or Hastings old town would be nicer than any of those and Hastings is on the right train line, not sure about the others.

None of her children drive?

My parents retired from south London to Westgate on sea just down the road from Birchington and they like it. Plenty of local shops, Westwood Cross shopping centre nearby, clifftop walks, lots of activities going on for older people. They have a busy social life. QEQM hospital may have a bad reputation but it is nearby and massive, and has served us well through several illnesses including cancer.

@Shyandretiringtype you say none of the children drive? Does your mother? Is there anything preventing you and your siblings from driving?

My mother and step are near Birchington (I grew up there). They are in their 80s and to be entirely honest if they weren't still driving would be very dependent on taxis, not all medical apps are at QEQM served by the bus routes and it's a game of jenga vis a vis waiting lists/where equipment is and where the better consultants operate.

Also some of the nicer activities, restaurants, etc., are based in the outlying villages: Minster, Sarre, etc., and one does need to be able to get about. Either having the money for taxis or a car?

I would strongly suggest your mother books an air bnb, maybe for three weeks in Jan/Feb to experience it at its most miserable before making any decision.

Dependency on public transport would be the deal breaker for me. Unless she has money to spend the activities/social life available will be grim. There will not be the diversity of London or the laughs.

Deal/Walmer is the only one I know well as my mum lived there for about 20 years. There is lots going on so she won't be lonely, there are WI groups if that's her thing, it's got a good high street with a variety of shops, quite a few independents. It's fairly easy to get to by car or train. A lot of it is walkable if she is mobile, depending on where she ends up. Plenty of buses though if she needs public transport. There's a leisure centre, lovely walks along the front, Walmer Castle is lovely to visit and they do events etc.

There’s so much to consider. I appreciate all the opinions and suggestions.

I’ve been concerned about the health and transport issues since she first mentioned it. But she’s had a really tough life and finally has a chance to get out of her London council estate and the noise and trouble there. I have tried to tell her the grass isn’t always greener and to go into it with her eyes open though.

No one in the family drives as we grew up in zone 2 London and all stayed there apart from me who moved to Tonbridge in recent years. We weren’t well off so driving lessons and car costs were out of reach when I was growing up. And then not driving just seemed normal!

I do have a health issue now which would make things difficult but maybe I should urge my sibling to learn. My DH does drive so we could get to these part of Kent fairly quickly in an emergency.