What a hotspot... weather helps make West Sussex our best place to retire
WEST Sussex offers the best quality of life for retired people, according to a study covering England and Wales.
Counties in southern and eastern England dominated the top 10 list, with Dorset, East Sussex, Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk also scoring well.
North Yorkshire was the only county from the North of England to make the ranking.
The study by Prudential, using figures from the Office for National Statistics and the Met Office, looked at a range of qualities, including healthcare, crime levels, healthy lifestyles, life expectancy and weather.
While nowhere in Wales made the top 10, the findings did reveal that Dyfed-Powys has notably low crime rates.
With Fishbourne Roman Palace and Arundel Castle in its boundaries, West Sussex attracts a high number of pensioners, scoring highly for good weather and “disabilityfree life expectancy”.
Picturesque Dorset, home to much of the Jurassic Coast and the backdrop for TV crime drama Broadchurch, remains a popular destination for pensioners, offering particularly good weather.
Stan Russell, a retirement income expert at Prudential, explained: “Our analysis shows that every part of the country has something different to offer pensioners but the counties with the most attractive attributes tend to be along the southern and eastern coasts of England.
“However, finding the right spot to live in such popular locations can be tricky.”
The top five “retirement hotspots for pensioners”, according to the survey, are West Sussex, Dorset, East Sussex, Devon and Norfolk.
The next five on the list are Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Isle of Wight, Suffolk and North Yorkshire.