Please help me find somewhere affordable to retire.

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Where I am now the first winter came as a bit of a shocker compared to what I'm used to.

PasturesNew wrote: »

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.

Well, one of you has to be right.....:rotfl:

The weather in new places can be deceptive. It's the climate that counts.

It hit -19c in the valley here in 2009/10, but that isn't indicative of normal conditions, or winters.

Hardly went below freezing this past winter.

Goldiegirl

Just wondering if the OP has any family links to an area, or holiday memories.

I'd have thought some sort of link or familiarity to an area would be helpful.

I couldn't imagine uprooting myself to a random place the other end of the country without some sort of prior knowledge.

Lleucu

choose somewhere that is cheap to heat.

• double glazing
• loft insulation
• newish gas boiler / on gas mains
• log burner or similar
• insulated floors
• cavity wall insulation
  
  Solar panels also good.
  

There are some clues in the EPC and previous energy bills. Old stone cottages may look pretty but can be expensive to heat. A recently sold ex LA house (which would have had most of these improvements) might be your best bet.

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

Well, one of you has to be right.....:rotfl:

The weather in new places can be deceptive. It's the climate that counts.

It hit -19c in the valley here in 2009/10, but that isn't indicative of normal conditions, or winters.

Hardly went below freezing this past winter.

I read Pastures New comment as she is complaining about East Anglia weather - been there and can imagine it could easily be a little parky:cool:

Towser

OP have you got a shortlist in mind?

The Market Rasen idea seemed quite nice?

What are you going to do?

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I read Pastures New comment as she is complaining about East Anglia weather - been there and can imagine it could easily be a little parky:cool:

But you are both maritime South West of the UK now.

knightstyle

Another vote for Lincolnshire, we moved to Gainsborough after living and working in France for many years. You can get a few years old two or even three bedroom semi for your money.

sgun

The problem with the North East is that there are a lot of grim but cheap places which makes the nicer places disproportionately expensive. Beach huts on the Northumberland coast start at £40,000. Seaham has been mentioned, the nice places round there are hugely expensive and many of the coastal towns and villages have never recovered economically from the closures of all the collieries. You could have look around Tow Law way in Co. Durham. Cheap enough and some nice places but you'll really feel the cold in the winter.

Pensioned_Off

ognum wrote: »

Where is the OP?

Here I am - fresh as a daisy after the pain killers have now worn off. They put me into a near hibernation sometimes .

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.

^^^ This is why I thought I'd ask on here - so that I could get a bit of local knowledge and find those areas that are 'cheap and not so grim'. So, please keep the suggestions coming.

As some are curious about my circumstances I'll give a bit more background. I have no siblings, no close extended family and no children. My parents are dead - my dad when I was 5 and my mum a couple of years ago (I was her carer in the last few years whilst still working full time so that kind of isolated me from any social life). I only have two close friends and we can visit each other, play online scrabble and Skype so no problems there.

So, now I have been pensioned off much earlier than I'd ever expected and actually am really looking forward to just moving away and starting again. I have no debts (paid them off with my lump sum) and a small but reasonable monthly income.

I need to find somewhere to buy that I can afford - as cheap as possible - so that I can have peace of mind that the landlord isn't going to sell up or the rent get hiked.

I want to stay in the UK and am very realistic about how harsh some areas can get in winter.

Please keep the ideas coming - I'm really grateful for your help so far.

Davesnave

Have a look at South Pembrokeshire. Great beaches, not too bad for accessibility and no need to speak Welsh!

Pembroke has a nice castle, but is not as well served as Haverfordwest, which is a utilitarian, but not grim town. The grim bit is probably the oil terminals around Milford Haven, yet that's not too bad, though closeness to one dents prices, which could work in your favour.

Climate similar to Atlantic Devon & Cornwall. Lots to explore inland too. Cheaper than Devon, but maybe towards the top of your budget.