A retired banker who swapped Brighton for Rome’s coast after Brexit says she is now able to save up to 70 per cent of her UK pension thanks to an unexpectedly affordable lifestyle. Deborah Baker, 78, began renting her two-bedroom, two-bathroom beachside studio six years ago and pays just €450 (£380) a month to live 18 miles from the Eternal City, in the fertile Agro Pontino plains renowned for fresh produce and wild, sandy beaches. “I voted Remain and the outcome of the Brexit vote was a shock,” Mrs Baker told i .
“I had been coming to Italy for years so I knew where I was going and coming from Brighton, I wanted a place near the sea, but at the same time near Rome and other major Italian cities. “I had no idea the cost of living could be so low even in the Roman area, I’m not in a remote village deep in the south. My apartment is 200 metres from the beach.
Naples and Pompeii are also a stone’s throw away.” The studio is located near the seaside resort of Nettuno, where Romans flock to for the beach on weekends. The coast is part of a protected natural reserve and is lined with sandy beaches and surrounded by freely grazing buffalo.
The area is also renowned for producing mozzarella. “I’m lucky, with my UK pension, which is a sum of both my state and private pensions, I live so comfortably I get to save up to 70 per cent of it at the end of the month,” said Mrs Baker, who is a widow. Though she loves her spacious 100-square-metre studio with whitewash.
