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As much as we love it, we’ll admit that London can be an exhausting place to be. And when you’ve survived decades of hectic working life, somewhere with a slower pace of life probably has more appeal. But if, when it’s time to give up the 9-to-5 for good, you don’t want to leave London behind completely, you’ll be glad to know that the UK’s best place for retirees is a tube ride away.
Pensions firm Legal & General (L&G) has ranked UK constituencies based of six ‘pillars’ that boost happiness and wellbeing in later life: housing, health, community, financial, nature and access to amenities. It used stats from the Office of National Statistics, census data, house price reports and a happiness survey of 3,000 British retirees.
The only place in London itself to make the cut was Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in the far west of the city. But the rest of the top 20 is dominated by constituencies that are less than an hour’s train away. And L&G’s number one place to retire can be found right at the end of the Metropolitan line.
The UK’s best place to retire is... Chesham and Amersham. This Buckinghamshire constituency got an overall score of 74 out of 100. L&G said that the area ‘performs exceptionally well on health with a score of 93, reflecting a strong proportion of over 65s in good physical and mental health, as well as good access to GPs’. With high scores across all the other pillars, L&G labelled Chesham and Amersham ‘a well-rounded environment for later life’.
Tempted to make the move? You’d be surrounded by the lush Chiltern Hills landscape, charming listed buildings (there are 150 in Amersham alone) and loads of opportunities to connect with the community, like the Amersham Festival of Music or the Ley Hill Music & Beer Festival. And, of course, there’s the capital right on your doorstep, should you want to take advantage of its trove of restaurants, theatres, museums and galleries.
L&G’s next best place to retire to in the UK also isn’t far from London. It ranked Beaconsfield – which can be reached within 22 minutes from Marylebone station – number two, with a score of 72. Third place went to Dorking and Horley, which is also less than an hour away.
The 20 best places to retire in the UK, according to Legal & General
- Chesham and Amersham, Buckinghamshire
- Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
- Dorking and Horley, Surrey
- Godalming and Ash, Surrey
- Mid Sussex
- Woking, Surrey
- Farnham and Bordon, Surrey
- Esher and Walton, Surrey
- Suffolk Coastal, Suffolk
- East Grinstead and Uckfield, West Sussex
- Henley and Thame, Oxfordshire
- Sevenoaks, Kent
- New Forest West, Hampshire
- Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, Outer London
- Tatton, Cheshire
- West Dorset
- Surrey Heath, Surrey
- Maidenhead, Berkshire
- Windsor, Berkshire
- Guildford, Surrey
Find out more about the full list here.
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