Where are the happiest retirement hotspots in Scotland?
Live in Scotland and looking for the right place for you during retirement? We reveal the happiest retirement hotspots in Scotland.
After decades of working hard and building your pension pot, it can be exciting to finally reach retirement. If you’re considering a change of scenery, you may be interested in retirement-friendly areas.
L&G’s retail business has conducted extensive research on 632 parliamentary constituencies in Great Britain, including Scotland and Wales, to discover the happiest retirement hotspots.
It looked at six factors that measure a good quality of later life, including:
Housing: Access to residential care homes and the percentage and availability of senior housing.
Health: Access to GPs and dentists, NHS waiting times, and the percentage of over-65s in good and poor health.
Social and community: The proportion of residents aged 65+, life satisfaction levels, reported levels of happiness, and distance to the nearest train station.
Financial security: Average pension income, the cost of living, housing affordability, and lack of deprivation.
Nature: The number of reported ‘summer’ days, air quality, the percentage of addresses with private outdoor space, and the average size of this space.
Access to amenities: Access to pharmacies, supermarkets, post offices, banks, libraries, theatres, museums, historical sites, and gardens.
All areas that were explored were given a score out of 100 based on the above factors.
Where are the top happiest retirement hotspots in Scotland?
We’ll now reveal some of the happiest places for retirees to live in Scotland.
| Ranking | Constituency | County | Overall index score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mid Dunbartonshire | East Dunbartonshire | 55 |
| 2 | Stirling and Strathallan | Stirling | 52 |
| 3 | East Renfrewshire | East Renfrewshire | 51 |
| 3 | West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine | Aberdeenshire | 51 |
| 5 | Na h-Eileanan an Iar | Na h-Eileanan Siar | 50 |
| 5 | Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber | Argyll and Bute | 50 |
| 7 | Perth and Kinross-shire | Perth and Kinross | 48 |
| 7 | Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | Highland | 48 |
| 7 | Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk | Scottish Borders | 48 |
| 7 | Dumfries and Galloway | Dumfries and Galloway | 48 |
| 7 | Skye and West Ross-shire | Highland | 48 |
Now we’ll explore some of the top retirement hotspots.
Argyll, Bute, and South Lochaber’s highest score was for social and community and access to amenities, which was 69 for both. It scored 68 for financial security, followed by 38 for health and 30 for nature, which was the lowest out of the top hotspots.
The constituency scored 24 for housing.
Na h-Eileanan an Iar scored highest for social and community factors (72) and financial security (65), followed by access to amenities at 62 and nature at 46.
The constituency scored 27 for housing and had the lowest score for health out of the top six hotspots at 20.
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine scored the same as East Renfrewshire – 51 out of 100.
It had the highest scores in financial security (91) and social and community (59), followed by access to amenities (51), health and nature (both 44). West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine have the joint lowest score with Stirling and Strathallan (7) for housing.
The constituency ranks in second place in Scotland for retirement finances.
The constituency scored 27 for housing and had the lowest score for health out of the top six hotspots at 20.
East Renfrewshire had the highest scores for social and community (82) and financial security (79), followed by health (50), nature (35), and access to amenities (23), which was the lowest score out of the top six hotspots. The constituency’s lowest score was for housing at 23.
Overall, East Renfrewshire is fourth for retirement social life and community.
Stirling and Strathallan received the highest scores for financial security (86) and access to amenities (78), followed by social and community (54), health (42) and nature (40). It scored 7 for housing.
Overall, the constituency is 13th for retirement finances and 18th for access to amenities.
In first place is Mid Dunbartonshire with a score of 55 out of 100.
The constituency had the highest scores for financial security (87) and social and community (79), followed by access to amenities (54), health (46), nature (41), and housing (10).
Mid Dunbartonshire ranked 8th overall for retirement social life and community, and ninth for financial security.
Get expert financial advice
If you’re planning for retirement or want to optimise your plan, expert financial advice can help.
Unbiased can quickly match you with a qualified financial adviser who can help you decide on the best way to access your pension and ensure you don’t run out of money in your golden years.
You can also be matched with a mortgage broker who can help you find the right mortgage for your needs or access equity in your home.
:quality(20))