Am I utterly stupid and deluded to think I might ever live in London as an older person?

[figwine]

Just back from a trip there and as always I'm filled with a yearning to just stay there. I love travelling and love pretty much everywhere I go, but nowhere affects me like London does. I did live there for a couple of years in my 20s but then lived abroad for a while where I met exh, who persuaded me to move to the Midlands!

I would never uproot the dc (12 & 14), and certainly wouldn't be able to afford a family-sized home anywhere near anyway, but I have been wondering whether a small flat might be within reach in a few years. Obviously no one can give me an answer with regards affordability as we are talking about 10 years' time and if I can't afford it that will be the end of it. However, in theory, does it sound like a stupid idea?

As things stand I have no partner. I do have a career but it's one I could do anywhere and I would be coming to the end of it then anyway. I just feel the area we are in is so limited and dull, but obviously being alone and not massively well off in a big city might just be shit. I just wish I'd stayed when I had the chance, but that that ship has sailed. I have friends on FB who live there but I haven't seen them for years and couldn't assume I think that I'd be able to pick up where we left off.

Does anyone have any thoughts or relevant experiences? Perhaps I just need a shake!

I plan to retire to London.

I live in south London and if I can afford it and am alone when I retire, I will move inwards. Despite what people say and think, London is incredibly welcoming and there is a strong community spirit. I want to be in the thick of it with noise and buzz around me and be in a bigger community.

Perfectly good plan if you can afford it!

I’m thinking of doing the opposite - not Midlands but moving from London to somewhere more rural when I’m older. I suppose that’s the more standard route though.

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

My parents moved in the early '80s to be near family. Against advice, they chose a slightly out of town location, so that once widowed DM could no longer driver for health reasons, she was pretty much stuck.

Wherever anyone moves to, I'd encourage them to find somewhere with at least a few shops snd ideally some community type venue within walking distance, exactly for when they can no longer drive.

One of my friends (also born & raised) has been in Manchester for about 18 yrs. Shes defo not seen as a Mancunian

That's precisely one of the things that's so wonderful about this place though. If you live here, you belong. You're a Londoner. A born Cockney is no more or less a Londoner than someone who moved here a year ago from Manchester or Ghana or Lithuania.

The welcoming and international spirit of London is a big part of what I love about it.

Richmond and Kew are nice areas www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109092803#/?channel=RES_BUY

Awww London living the dream but sometimes it's a nightmare here.
For those believing it's a friendly place I have never really found that, I don't know my neighbours because next door is rented and as such people come and go. If you strike up a conversation with a stranger they look at you like your crazy sometimes.
I regularly fall to sleep with the sound of police sirens and police helicopters hoovering overhead. Apparently I live in a 'good' area if this is good then someone is lying. My house is now like Fort Knox, after some scumbags tried to kick the door in to steal the car keys.
Those are just a few of the negatives, I love London early in the morning I often leave early in in the summer just to sit with a coffee and watch the city wake up. London has at times been brutal and very good, I've been right in the centre of two terrorist attacks, and I suppose in a way that's damaged me and my view on living here.
You have to be pretty resilient to live here, it's not all bright lights, culture and happiness.
I keep thinking, one day I will move further out so perhaps that way I get a more best of both worlds lifestyle.

I love London early in the morning I often leave early in in the summer just to sit with a coffee and watch the city wake up.

I love London at Christmas, it's so quiet & empty.

@FinallyHere i agree - I don’t think I’d go somewhere entirely isolated!

By the time I retire who knows what will have happened to the planet anyway.

We have just moved out of london by necessity. I am heartbroken. The area we lived in is considered by those who don’t live there as rough. It is the warmest, most community minded place I have ever lived. I could always call on someone to help out on our road and always stopped to chat to several people when I popped to the shop. I will definitely be retiring to london. I am friends with many retirees who live there and their lives are full and happy ones. Certainly my experience of London isn’t the same as icepinkeskimos and I have lived and worked there for more than 20yrs and raised our children there.

Maybe you need to move to a ‘bad’ are icepinkeskimo

[quote SardineJam]Richmond and Kew are nice areas www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109092803#/?channel=RES_BUY[/quote]
Richmond and Kew aren't London

Area not are!

There are some lovely areas around ham, Kingston, Surbiton, Wimbledon , Thames ditton, Hampton, East molesey etc where you get the parks and river and lots of decent houses and good flats but still quick into central London when you want to go in and in zones. Thing is about London, if you are older there is a lot to do for not much cost, so if you can find the housing ok, it’s actually very viable. I must admit the idea of retirement in an average town in the UK with not exactly loads to do for little cost isn’t exactly a cheery thought.

I was in Notting Hill today. That would be a nice place to retire to!

I'm planning to stay in London for my retirement. Love living here.

We're going to do this....at least for a couple of years, we are going to do the canals and hope to be able to cruise in and out as we please for stretches of the year and soak up all that lovely London vibe

It's one of my regrets that dh and I did not stretch ourselves for "that" house and moved to Bristol instead.

I love London, and get pangs when i see it on the TV, it is the best place.

It could work well for some. I don’t think I could do an apartment again or deal with the London noise again. You do get used to it but I always struggle a bit now I’ve lived more rurally.

An option I’d consider is an Airb&b for a few weeks or month. You could then do London and see how you’d enjoy the lifestyle before committing. Or make it a regular thing every year.

I live in London and feel very conflicted about this. On the one hand, I love having everything close by and the diversity. On the other hand, the noise and slightly grimy vibe is slightly getting to me.

I live in London and will never live anywhere else. I would rather live in a studio flat in Zone 1 or 2 when I am retired than a bigger house in the suburbs or the countryside. Whenever I leave I am homesick for London. I have even lived abroad twice and nothing ever comes close. It is definitely my spiritual home. You can make your dreams come true. There are parts that are very nice that aren’t as pricy as you would think.

There are lots of really happy retired people in our street. I also wonder about staying here for ever as I love it. The galleries, the people, the convenience. Great doctors, nice neighbours.

I don't think it's a madcap idea at all. The more I consider retiring to the countryside, the gloomier I become about the prospect. (NB I am nowhere near retirement but still think about what I'll do).

Another plus about living in London when DC are older is that they are likely to be there, too. So you'll see a lot more of them.

I live in what is now Zone 8 so really the burbs. Readily commutable into central London from here (only 35 mins on public transport into the office). I moved in 1999 because of the costs (had to move from West Hampstead, sob) and a horrendous experience with prostitution and drugs on our doorstop (and a battle with noise abatement from the same neighbour - Cricklewood).
No one has mentioned the pollution levels - often horrendous either in very hot or cold weather in Central London. Where we live now is hilly, clear skies, see for miles. Very quiet neighbours.
Colleagues who live in Central London extol the virtues of great medical care and getting to see consultants quickly (from the teaching hospitals) but despair of seeing a GP for a 'normal' consultation. Whereas we've been exploring our local area with coffee shops popping up (and tonight picking wild damsons), they've been really bored in Central London during lockdown with many places closed. Nothing is 'special'. When things get back to normal- public transport can get very crowded - whenever I go to Stratford it astonishes me how many people surge through this part of London. Obviously as a retiree you would be travelling off peak. But there is definitely a sense of services under pressure.

I didn’t mention the pollution levels but I did think of them. They are the main downside to living in London for me.

Central London is now an ultra low emission zone though, for what it’s worth.

Yes the pollution levels are conceding