Find your Florida: What Are the Top Cities to Retire to In The UK?

From swimming pools to sunshine hours; Care.com discovers the cities offering senior citizens a Florida lifestyle right here in the UK. 

With more people than ever living in to their eighties and even nineties, the UK is undeniably an ageing population.  But where is the best place in the UK for elderly citizens to spend their retirement years?

In the USA Florida is known as the ultimate retirement state. This is due to a number of factors, including a warm and temperate climate, a close proximity to water and an abundance of recreational activities. The latter is particularly important when you consider that as we grow older, staying active keeps us both healthier and happier. It is little wonder then that pensioners flock to what is known as sunshine state to enjoy the twilight years of their life, but the UK equivalent has remained unclear – until now.

This September Care.com has made it their mission to find out which city can claim the title for top place to retire to on this side of the pond. By comparing similar factors to those which make Florida so popular, such as weather, leisure activities and elderly care, we can now reveal that the best city for senior citizens in the UK is none other than Brighton and Hove!

Achieving the best weather ranking of any city in the UK, Brighton and Hove is the closest we get to a suntrap in Britain. This is particularly convenient given the expanse of beautiful beach bordering this city, rather similar to Florida in fact! Brighton and Hove also ranks third as the best city for leisure pursuits for older people, offering everything from golf clubs, swimming pools, yoga classes, theatres and concert halls, art and craft shops, antique dealers and plenty of natural spaces.

While Brighton ranks the highest overall when it comes to leading a Florida lifestyle in the UK, it’s Norwich which steals the crown for the city with the best leisure pursuits for the elderly. This is closely followed by Cambridge which clinches second place. Both cities are not only surrounded by beautiful countryside but also feature several theatres, historic buildings and lovely cobbled streets, perfect for exploring during your retirement!

Yet the city which ranks top for elderly care specifically, is none other than Luton. This city boasts the most quality care homes and sheltered accommodation per pensioner in the UK. This is closely followed by Reading and then Salford, suggesting that smaller cities may be better equipped to manage the care demands of an older population versus a large metropolis such as London. In fact the country’s capital ranks bottom when it comes to elderly care, suggesting that the hectic London buzz is better suited to younger generations.

While Brighton and Hove, Norwich and Luton can each claim different areas of supremacy when it comes to being the best cities for the elderly in the UK; many pensioners will understandably want to stay in the locality they have always lived for their retirement. Fortunately, with Care.com people can enjoy a high quality of care whatever city they retire to in the UK, whether that be London, Luton or Liverpool.

In fact for our board of C-enior Sweets, receiving help with small tasks such as heavy lifting makes all the difference when it comes to maintaining independence in later life.  They reveal exactly what kind of care senior citizens appreciate as they grow older and the tasks they would like assistance with, in the video below.

To find out where your city ranked in our Find your Florida research please see the full table of results below.