Best places in South East for retirees

Persona weighting: Health (life expectancy) 30%, Safety (low crime) 25%, Living cost (council tax) 20%, Affordability (rent) 10%, Connectivity (broadband) 10%, Schools (Ofsted Good+) 5%.

Updated quarterly · last recomputed 2026-06-19 from the latest government data releases.

What is the best place to live in South East for retirees?

As of 2026-06-19, the best South East local authority for retirees is Bracknell Forest, scoring 71.9/100 on the Gera Persona Fit index — a persona-weighted composite of rent, crime, Ofsted schools, broadband, life expectancy and council tax across 64 South East local authorities. GeraRent recomputes it quarterly.

Gera Persona Fit: Bracknell Forest 71.9/100How this is computed

#	Area	Persona Fit	GLS
1	Bracknell Forest	71.9	76.0
2	Epsom and Ewell	70.2	69.3
3	Fareham	69.3	69.5
4	Windsor and Maidenhead	69.1	66.0
5	Wokingham	67.6	67.4
6	Hart	67.1	64.6
7	Horsham	66.7	65.3
8	West Berkshire	66.4	67.5
9	West Oxfordshire	66.1	67.5
10	Vale of White Horse	65.7	64.9
11	New Forest	65.5	63.7
12	Elmbridge	65.2	62.7
13	Mole Valley	64.8	60.5
14	Eastleigh	64.6	63.2
15	South Oxfordshire	64.6	63.4
16	Mid Sussex	64.5	64.5
17	Rushmoor	64.3	67.4
18	Surrey Heath	64.3	63.4
19	Guildford	64.1	61.6
20	East Hampshire	63.8	62.3
21	Test Valley	63.8	62.2
22	Milton Keynes	63.6	70.1
23	Waverley	63.6	61.2
24	Buckinghamshire	63.3	61.5
25	Tunbridge Wells	63.2	62.9
26	Havant	63.1	64.9
27	Woking	63.0	61.3
28	Adur	62.9	65.4
29	Basingstoke and Deane	62.9	63.6
30	Runnymede	62.7	63.2
31	Winchester	62.5	59.1
32	Cherwell	62.2	64.0
33	Reigate and Banstead	62.2	62.6
34	Spelthorne	62.1	63.6
35	Gosport	61.7	66.6
36	Crawley	61.6	63.4
37	Sevenoaks	61.4	59.3
38	Ashford	61.2	61.9
39	Worthing	61.0	66.3
40	Chichester	60.9	59.9
41	Tonbridge and Malling	60.9	60.9
42	Slough	60.3	66.8
43	Tandridge	60.3	58.2
44	Gravesham	60.0	62.3
45	Medway	59.9	65.2
46	Maidstone	59.6	60.9
47	Reading	59.0	65.0
48	Wealden	58.9	58.0
49	Lewes	58.8	58.5
50	Southampton	58.7	62.9
51	Portsmouth	58.5	64.5
52	Swale	58.5	62.4
53	Dover	57.9	60.9
54	Eastbourne	57.8	62.4
55	Rother	57.7	58.9
56	Canterbury	57.5	59.0
57	Isle of Wight	57.5	56.7
58	Dartford	56.9	58.7
59	Arun	56.0	55.6
60	Folkestone and Hythe	56.0	59.0
61	Thanet	55.5	60.7
62	Oxford	54.9	53.5
63	Brighton and Hove	53.3	53.7
64	Hastings	50.9	56.1

Retirees in other regions

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Sources (all Open Government Licence v3.0):

ONS — Price Index of Private Rents — as of May 2026.
HM Land Registry — UK House Price Index — as of April 2026.
MHCLG — Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England — as of 2026-27.
Ofcom — Connected Nations (Gera Broadband Index) — as of July 2024.
ONS — Life expectancy by local authority — as of 2017-19.
Ofsted — State-funded school inspection outcomes — as of 31 May 2026.
Home Office — Police recorded crime (PFA) + ONS population — as of Year ending December 2025.

Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 © Crown copyright. Recorded-crime figures are neutral official statistics shown as context only and must not be used to characterise an area or its residents.