Please help me find somewhere affordable to retire.

pinkshoes

I grew up in north Lincolnshire, and you can buy a lovely house for very cheap, and be 20 mins drive from the sea.

£90k will easily get you a 2 bed semi or terrace in a town like Market Rasen, which has decent amenities along with a Railway Station for a 15 minute train ride to Lincoln or Grimsby.

Lots of quiet villages in the area too served by buses.

ognum

Where is the OP?

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

It's a very economical time of year to go exploring. Many holiday rentals are cheap as chips in late season.

That was what I did in the event - ie I figured out that I could rent a whole (nice) house for less than the price of staying in a bed & breakfast.

That equalled no contest then...and I booked a week in an out of season holiday rental.

In actual fact - I would suggest it might be a good idea to pick a time of year when the weather is "doing its worst" - so that you can see just how bad the "worst" is.

Where I am now the first winter came as a bit of a shocker compared to what I'm used to. Other English people have said its better or no different to what they are used to and it entirely depends on what "what you're used to" is like.

Tales are rife of people coming from as "mild climes" as I do and picking somewhere even more remote/rural than where I am - and then moving again after the first winter. There's certainly one place, in particular, here where a friend and I have a running joke about "It could be worse - we could have moved to x here:eek::rotfl:".

**********

The other point I would make is imo different parts of the country tend to prioritise catering for a particular type of household. That's something that doesn't tend to cross your mind - unless you move to an area that caters for "another type of household" to your own (eg family moving to single person/couples area on the one hand or single person moving to a "family" oriented area on the other hand). Some areas of the country are VERY "family" oriented and local society does have a tendency to get organised around them first - and incomers have to basically start up a "singles network" (thankfully - my current area had already gone some way towards building up an alternative one for people who are used to that). That is a consideration for OP to bear in mind.

PasturesNew

I grew up in East Anglia and relocated to the South West .... my GOD the winters are freezing in EA when that wind blows in from the Urals for weeks on end. Bitter, freezing, endless, cold. That was the one thing I enjoy since moving, fewer freezing days (in fact, almost none). Having said that it's warmer here, but that translates to wetter (and windier).... I hate the wind. I do hate the cold more than the wind though.

carefullycautious

If you are looking for bungalows here you go


https://www.onthemarket.com/for-sale/2-bed-bungalows/uk/?direction=asc&page=5&property-features=parking&property-features=garden

karmacookie

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/houses/scottish-borders/?include_retirement_homes=true&include_shared_ownership=true&new_homes=include&price_max=90000&q=Scottish%20Borders&results_sort=newest_listings&search_source=home

[Deleted User]

North East is cheap but not everywhere. My town is really cheap but grim.

AdrianC

Deleted_User wrote: »

North East is cheap but not everywhere. My town is really cheap but grim.

Any region is going to have cheap-but-grim and more expensive areas. The art is finding somewhere that's both cheap and not-grim. They do exist, but they're rare.

moneyistooshorttomention

AdrianC wrote: »

Any region is going to have cheap-but-grim and more expensive areas. The art is finding somewhere that's both cheap and not-grim. They do exist, but they're rare.

...and then weigh up the relative strength of the "bring the place up" factors that exist and any local "might kill it" factors that are there and figure out which way things will go...

There's an obvious location that is clearly "Mine" in my home area. That location has become pretty expensive and those other people that also regard it as "Mine" (but cant afford it either) have spread out to a nearby Passable Place and that has upgraded a bit as a result. That sort of thing tends to happen in some areas.

Person_one

I was also going to suggest West Cumbria. Lots of coastal towns, not too cut off, right by the sea, near the lakes as well and very cheap. There are a fair few social problems due to high unemployment etc. but as a retired person planning to live a fairly solitary life, that won't affect you as much as it might others, and as you're after a semi or detached house with your budget, then the fact is that you're going to get that wherever you go unfortunately.

Why not pick 2 or 3 destinations that appeal to you, and spend a week or so in a caravan park or similar at each one. Its off season, so won't cost a fortune.