Most affordable places to retire in the UK: where do Lancashire's most populated towns feature?
A new study has looked at where the most affordable and expensive places in the UK are to retire, find out where those in Lancashire rank:
In the UK, the current state pension is £203.85 per week (around £10,600 per year) and can be claimed by people aged 66 or over*, but how much money does the average person actually need to retire in each UK town/city if they lived until the average life expectancy?
Money experts at Sambla have compared the cost of living before rent in the UK's top 100 most populated towns and cities, with the current retirement age of 66 and the average life expectancy of 81 years old (79 for men and 82.9 for women) to find out the most affordable and expensive places for Brits to retire in the UK.
*those born after 5 April 1960 will see a phased increase to 67 then to 68.
What did they find?
According to Sambla, Preston is the third most affordable place to retire, with the cost of living per person per month being £584, the average person would need £105,156 in their retirement fund whilst those who live to 100 would need £238,354
The other three towns/cities in Lancashire to feature in Sambla’s rankings are Blackpool, Burnley and Blackburn.
In Blackpool, the cost of living per person per month is £730 so the average person would need £131,400 in their retirement fund and those who live to 100 would need £297,840.
Burnley is cheaper than Blackpool to retire in with a cost of living per month of £689 meaning the average person would need £124,002 and those who live to 100 would need £281,071.
Blackburn is cheaper again but still not as affordable as Preston: in this town a cost of living per month of £598 means the average person would need £107,640 in their retirement fund and those who live to 100 would need £243,984.
What methodology was used?
Sambla collated the cost of living for all countries and UK locations from livingcost.org. They then sourced the average life expectancy between men and women from worldometer, and compared this to each country’s minimum retirement age which was cross referenced through manual research. Where a location’s data was not complete, it was excluded from the final ranking.
By comparing each country’s minimum retirement age with its cost of living, they were able to determine how many years the average local would live post retirement. Retirement fund considers ‘cost of living’ x ‘years lived post retirement’.
What were the top 10 best and top 10 worst locations nationally?
The top 10 most affordable places to retire in the UK
| Town/City | Cost of Living pp/pm | Cost of Living pp/pa | Retirement Fund | Retirement Fund (if lived to 100) |
| St Helens | £565 | £6,781 | £101,718 | £230,561 |
| Rochdale | £583 | £6,995 | £104,922 | £237,823 |
| Preston | £584 | £7,010 | £105,156 | £238,354 |
| Harlow | £589 | £7,062 | £105,930 | £240,108 |
| Blackburn | £598 | £7,176 | £107,640 | £243,984 |
| Kingston upon Hull | £610 | £7,318 | £109,764 | £248,798 |
| Rotherham | £625 | £7,500 | £112,500 | £255,000 |
| Wigan | £630 | £7,559 | £113,382 | £256,999 |
| Bolton | £634 | £7,608 | £114,120 | £258,672 |
| Oldham | £635 | £7,620 | £114,300 | £259,080 |
The top 10 most expensive places to retire in the UK
| Town/City | Cost of Living pp/pm | Cost of Living pp/pa | Retirement Fund | Retirement Fund (if lived to 100) |
| London | £1,039 | £12,468 | £187,020 | £423,912 |
| Leeds | £843 | £10,116 | £151,740 | £343,944 |
| City of Westminster | £835 | £10,020 | £150,300 | £340,680 |
| Maidstone | £832 | £9,984 | £149,760 | £339,456 |
| Chesterfield | £825 | £9,900 | £148,500 | £336,600 |
| Birmingham | £816 | £9,792 | £146,880 | £332,928 |
| Lincoln | £810 | £9,720 | £145,800 | £330,480 |
| Chelmsford | £806 | £9,672 | £145,080 | £328,848 |
| Manchester | £790 | £9,480 | £142,200 | £322,320 |
| Milton Keynes | £789 | £9,468 | £142,020 | £321,912 |