Retiring to the Isle of Wight

[EzLife]

Hi,

Semi-nearly retired and looking to move to the IoW.

Have visited and will do again next month.

Considerations:
Local shops, coast/beach walkable, ideally not too far from ferries, good GP and Dentist not far away - thinking should we be unable to drive in the future.

I appreciate there are downsides like fewer shops and ferries are £££ but the island has drawn me in...

What are your thoughts?

TIA 🙏

How old? On your own or with any family?

Budget? It’s pricey!

How is your health? The hospital on the island is shit and most people get taken to Southampton for any treatments. This can be a pain for family who want to visit from the island.

Moving to a new place in retirement can be a fantastic opportunity and some people really thrive from a change. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. You need to think about the details and mundane as well as the inspirational. Will your friends/family be able to come and visit easily? How will you build new social networks? What will it be like to live there if you had a bad accident? Etc.

I don’t have any experience of living on the Isle of Wight. However, I have some friends who thought they would like to live in France in their retirement. Rather than move permanently they decided to rent somewhere for six months before committing to live there permanently. It was an incredibly sensible thing to do. As they found the reality a little different from the dream and have now moved back. Would this be a possibility for you?

What about healthcare? Not all treats are available on the island and many patients have to come to Southampton or Portsmouth for treatment.

Thanks for your speedy responses.

Two of us, both retirement age, re budget, housing is lower that current location, not noticed a higher cost of living - foods etc.

Whilst health not great already checked with local support group re my medical condition with a positive response - I appreciate some issues may need mainland treatment - also got the impression that the hospital was improving.

Health is an ongoing challenge - as mentioned by LittleLlama a car accident wouldn't be good so location inc. access to public transport & local shops is essential.

Returning next month for a (2nd) short holiday when we will be checking out different locations and mindful of all of the above.

I live on the Isle of Wight and I’m retired happy to answer any questions .

How much would you want to keep in touch with friends and family? I love the IOW but I’m guessing that the ferry journey and cost would mean you wouldn’t get as many visitors as if you lived elsewhere. Also what is it like both in peak holiday season and in low season? Both might be annoying as a local!

I would think very carefully. We live near Portsmouth and have worked for various big organisations (NHS, banking, local govt) that cover the IOW and it’s incredible how separation by a small strip of water affects the logistics of everything. Difficult to recruit to key posts, supply issues etc. I would worry about these things more in retirement. It is absolutely gorgeous though.

That's brilliant, thank you very much!
I've discovered a colleague who's also a resident so we'll have a chat next week and will return to you if there's anything else I need to know. 🙏

Actually, there have got be questions, from a retirement perspective...

Good questions, I guess being a holiday destination will help with arrivals, the flip of course is our travelling from the island on holiday...

I'll be like a tourist if/when we move tbh, I'm sure I'll learn which places to avoid, and when.

As someone who lives on an island, not IoW, it's kind of annoying that folk retire here. We need working folk who actually want to live and work here - there isn't an infinite supply of housing and each house taken up by retired folk makes it harder for others who are of working age. What's wrong with retiring where you are?

State retirement .age, and wife a little younger, who's already retired.

I'm hoping that downsizing which create some extra capital to pay for additional costs, although I didn't notice much/any difference between it and where I live in the north-west.

My friend had retired parents there while they lived on the mainland. It was a bit of a nightmare as they got older as they were miles from the ferry ports so every time my friend and DH wanted/needed to visit they had to take the car over on the expensive ferries which get booked up at peak times. Then the hospital wasn't sufficient, the mother had to be airlifted to Southampton and died after a short illness. They managed to relocate the DF to the mainland after that which made everything SO much easier.

We go there lots, I'd love to retire there but there is no way I'm putting the Solent between us and our DCs in retirement.

Ryde has the best connections to the mainland and is rather lovely too.

We've had an annual holiday on I of W for 30 years.

Our favourite scenic place is Ventnor but I wouldn't live there as the land is too unstable.

Why don’t you look at towns on the Trainline from Ryde. Ryde itself has quite a lot going on: cinema, sandy beach etc as well as ferry access to the mainland. However you might want somewhere a little less busy? Perhaps Brading? Personally I love Ventnor but that is possibly a bit remote. It’s not on the train and the roads there are quite long and winding.

I understand your feelings, however retirees still need to live, and buy products and produce, supporting local businesses, and also often have greater capacity for volunteering - supporting local communities.

I'm happy where I live, but fancy a change and island life with easy access to beaches and coastline ticks a lot of my boxes.

Good questions and advice, thank you.

I'm speaking with an IoW colleague next week and hope to get a greater understanding of challenges & remedies etc.

Thanks for sharing, I'm sorry to hear of your friend's story.

We have family but no children, and access to public transport is high on our must-have list.

My parents lived there happily in retirement. Fantastic place and pretty geared up for older people as well as a nice place to take young children on holiday. Health care was great, St Mary's copes with most things apart from more specialist surgery and the public transport is pretty good.

I think you're right re Ryde, it is area we're considering for the reasons you mention, and agree that Ventnor is a lovely place, however access and landslip possibility are deterrents.

Not thought about Brading - thank you!

I also live on the IoW. Been here almost 7yrs. I'm not retired though.

I can tell you the good, the bad and the ugly. The bad is mainly the cost of and reliability of the ferries. Wightlink offer a saver bundle (forget what it's called) if you're planning on travelling back to the North island regularly. Also, its worth knowing that there's a shopper boat from Cowes to Gunwharf which is £10 return and free parking.

Doctors can be hit and miss. My surgery used to be a few doors down from me. That's closed and now I have to drive 20 mins to an alternative. My 91yr old neighbour pays £15 each way in a taxi to get there. I'm yet to find an NHS dentist.

A few of my friends have cancer, sadly. As PP said, you have to travel to Southampton or Portsmouth for treatment. I had to have a back procedure and was sent to Winchester.

A friend told me that the longer you live here, the bigger the island gets. She wasn't wrong! There are so many beautiful places tucked out of the way. When I read the local news, I often have to look on Maps because I've never heard of the place before!

Wherever you decide to buy, make sure it has parking. Parking is the pain in the rear of a lot of us here.

That said, it's a fabulous place to live and I'd never, ever move back. My social circle is huge, I love that my road is like Coronation Street where we all know each other and help each other out (not for everyone, I know). If I pop into town for 10 minutes, it will take an hour because I either bump into someone I know or get chatting to a random. There are theatres, art exhibitions, cinemas, masses of restaurants and cafes, independent brewers, distillers, fantastic farm shops - in fact, the other day, The Guardian listed Newport as one of the happiest places to live.

You'll have a very fulfilling retirement here! There are also masses of volunteering opportunities so you won't be bored.

As an aside, if you're coming over in the next few weeks, beware of traffic issues we currently have due to some road closures. Also the Festival is coming up and that causes mayhem!

This is on Escape to the Country today.

The car ferries seem to have trebled in price in the last ten years. My parents used to get discounted residents rates oy buy a book of tickets and we'd travel at odd hours and get there late in the evening to avoid the higher fares- the kids found this really exciting.

Also you can get to the island without taking a car. Train connects up with passenger ferry. Before we had kids DH and I would go for the weekend from London, was super easy. The east side of the island has the little train service with ex tube trains, which is great and really cute. The whole island is well-served with buses.

Thank you 🙏 - so good to receive such a positive reply, I thought (and hoped) St. Mary's was improving and healthcare naturally is top of our list...