Is Leeds the best place to enjoy your retirement in the UK?

The goal of finding the best retirement spot is an important one in the UK, where approximately 25% of the population is over 55 years of age, according to the Office for National Statistics.

It is often a hassle to conclude which city can provide the best environment as it all boils down to finding the most important criterias that are relevant from the point of view of a retiree.

To tackle this challenging subject, Market Inspector has developed a comprehensive scoring system to rank the best cities for retirement in the UK.

The top 3 contenders for the perfect retirement retreat are Plymouth, Newport, and Derby

A spokeman said: "Our research reveals these cities score high on counts of having an active social life as a retiree. Plymouth gets the highest score for being relatively safe in terms of number of crimes reported and overall well-being in terms of high score on happiness index. Although these cities bank plenty of annual sunshine hours, they come on top largely due to being budget friendly when it comes to transportation and rental costs."

Large cities have a high crime rate and score low on access to care and environment

"We also find highly populated cities like Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, and London are adversely affected by higher crime rates and bad air quality. As this naturally increases the medical attention people in these cities would usually require, the problem further worsens when three of these cities have lower than average number of hospitals per thousand inhabitants.

"Bristol, Nottingham, and Aberdeen rank as the worst cities to retire. Overall they are faced with a high crime rate and a relative high cost of living."

Leeds is ranked 20th with a population over 55 of 25.4%, five hospitals per 1,000 inhabitants,141 annual crimes per 1,000 inhabitants and a monthly transportation cost of £58.

The spokeman added: "In conclusion, our study finds ideal retirement hubs to be dispersed across multiple regions and having a competitive advantage in many important factors. At the same time, the high population density and the derived problems, such as higher costs of living, more pressure on social services, and poor air quality, reduced the attractiveness of major cities."

* For visit Market Inspector HERE