Where have you bought/ thought a home for your retirement, closer to nature in UK?

[Tellmeabout]

Tell me about your ideal place. Looking for an inspiration. I’m torn between Cornwall, Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. BTW I ‘m in late thirties and would like to start planning about retirement home.

Southgate, Gower, Wales.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A7jcgBA_e8w&pp=ygUPU291dGhnYXRlIGdvd2Vy

This video. This is where I live.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HxjeR_zu_Rk&pp=ygUPU291dGhnYXRlIGdvd2Vy

Somewhere where I have great public transport links, walking distance to essentials such as gp, library and supermarkets, local hospital not too far. Plus easy access to cities for theatre and entertainment. Stuck rurally with no access to that if I couldn’t drive would be my idea of hell!

Why are you planning this now? Do you plan to buy it well before retirement?

We have no idea how the world will be in 20-30 years time. Global warming may have impacted coastal communities and other weather patterns etc.

Subject to all that (though I’m older than you and planning to retire in 5-6 years) - live in London and house swap to a variety of lovely countryside areas for the variety, whilst having great public transport and all facilities locally at home

This.

I think OP you might have an overly romanticised view of retirement.

Living in a beautiful place isn’t much compensation if you can’t access key services and facilities easily.

Nor is living in areas of high tourism where out of season they can desolate (as locals can’t afford to live there) and in season absolutely heaving.

Our forever home is a semi-rural large village with great transportation links to the nearest city, coast and countryside. Lots of local shops, cafes, post office, pub, GP, Dentist etc.

Great community and lots of clubs/social groups for when we eventually retire.

If we can no longer drive we will be able to easily use public transport but also we have nearly everything we need within the village day to day.

I think Escape to the Country has a lot to answer for when it comes to retirees!

Well I moved into London to plan for my retirement as it has hospitals, is much friendlier to those with disabilities and has so much to do.

I think it’s daft to move rural in retirement.

Don’t come to Cornwall. Public transport is practically nonexistent and there is only one major hospital covering the whole county.

Epping Forest. Close to hospital, shops, communities & tube!

@TellmeaboutWhen we talk to locals in Cornwall, the complaints are deafening! All about lack of health facility’s and having to drive everywhere for everything bar the views.

There’s active retirement and then there’s old age. Cornwall - not for me. For active old age (I’m 70) we are 35 miles from London in a beautiful wooded rural area. Town is around 2 miles away and that has everything. We have walks galore and great access to London via the trains. Never going to live 4.5 hours on the train from London as we want to see dc who live there. Sports we follow are local to here and I don’t want to be isolated. Cornwall and very rural areas are for holidays only!

This.

Do not underestimate how awful life is when you are really old and have no mobility, can’t drive and it costs £180 return trip in the taxi to the nearest hospital. Or takes four hours there and four hours back on the bus, which you can’t rush for cos of the limited mobility.
And don’t have kids expecting them to do this, and then move 200 miles away so they can’t actually just do this tomorrow for you.

Very interesting comments. TBH I didn’t think about hospitals at all and all I had in my mind rolling hills and isolated house in the middle of nowhere. This is really eye opening aspect for Cornwall as well.

Manchester!

Same here and loving it!

I live in the outskirts of a large city. When DH and I retire we're going to buy a flat in an area closer to the city centre. I would never move to a rural area when I retire, for all of the reasons mentioned above.

The best thing you can do now with regard to your retirement is to put as much money into your pension as you can. Day dreaming about isolated cottages, rolling hills etc, is not going to pay for you to have a good life.

I would say Falmouth or Truro outskirts could work for you but you have to weigh everything up. We don’t have a bus route where I live now. We are both fit and drive. If not driving, it’s a massive issue. We would have to consider moving into the town if we begin to struggle.

We live in a small town but walking distance to the hospital and the train station, ditto shops, my music group, a small theatre. About 3 hours to London though actually I'd prefer to be closer or actually live there for things like museums and theatre. But it's probably just as cheap if you are retired to go down on the train, stay the night, go to a midweek show, as actually live there!

Ditto the Dales. It’s stunning but transport links are not great and in winter it can be brutal.

The nearest big hospitals can take hours to access.

My fathers family is from the lakes and it’s a similar story. Super rural hill farm/hamlet much like your rural dream.

Beautiful but try getting a bus from one village to another - no chance. In the depths of winter even a 4x4 won’t cut it (tractor to the rescue). Small roads that don’t get gritted with snow drifts up to your waist.

Your beautiful view won’t be much compensation if you have a raging toothache and getting to a dentist is a 4 hour round trip that you have to call on your local friendly farmer to use their tractor to get you to there.

Aside from yourself what happens if you need a plumber or your boiler breaks mid winter? Local trades can’t just rock up when the roads are impassable.

A good active retirement (and a pp made a good point about “old age” vs active retirement) is about having ease of access to the things you enjoy not necessarily being “there” full time.