Yorkshire savers beats Londoners for retirement planning

Wednesday, 15 October 2025 10:02

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The top 10 least resilient areas for retirement were London boroughs

London dominates the UK regions where households are least likely to be on track for an adequate retirement income, according to new research.

All of the top 10 least resilient areas when it comes to retirement were London boroughs, according to the latest Hargreaves Lansdown Retirement Barometer.

Islington was the least resilient area, with only 25.5% of households (1 in 4) on track for an adequate retirement income.

Top 10 least resilient

Area	Percentage of households on track for an adequate retirement income
Islington - London	25.5%
Kensington and Chelsea - London	25.7%
Westminster - London	26.3%
Southwark – London	26.6%
Camden - London	27.8%
City of London – London	27.9%
Tower Hamlets - London	28.3%
Greenwich – London	28.5%
Lambeth - London	28.7%
Hammersmith and Fulham - London	29.3%

Source: Hargreaves Lansdown Retirement Barometer, 15 October 2025

Craven in Yorkshire had the highest resilience scores for retirement, with 56% of households on track for a decent retirement income.

There was a wide geographical split for the remainder of the top 10, although the South East was markedly absent.

Top 10 most resilient

Area	Percentage of households on track for an adequate retirement income
Craven – Yorkshire and Humber	56.1%
South Hams – South West	55.8%
Eden – North West	55.3%
West Devon – South West	54.8%
York – Yorkshire and Humber	53.5%
Ryedale – Yorkshire and Humber	53.2%
Powys - Wales	53.2%
East Lothian - Scotland	53.1%
Flintshire - Wales	53.1%
Pembrokeshire - Wales	53%

Source: Hargreaves Lansdown Retirement Barometer, 15 October 2025

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “People may not actually realise they are under saving for retirement as they think the levels stipulated by their scheme will be enough.

“This is something that could sting high earners who have the extra cash but don’t realise that they need to be saving more to meet their retirement needs. For these people there could be a nasty shock in store when they realise they are nowhere near where they need to be.”

Hargreaves Lansdown recently moved away from using Pension UK’s retirement income standards benchmark for its Retirement Barometer. The new benchmark is an adjusted version of the Pension Commission’s Target Replacement Rate (TRR) with a floor derived from the Living Wage Pension.

A target replacement rate is where you save enough to give you an income that hits a specific percentage of your pre-retirement salary – for instance two-thirds.