I think quite often higher! Lots of history about SERPS and contracting out and so on, but the “New” state pension was not designed to do anything but save the State money.
I don’t know the detail but I believe the old state pension kept eligibility for extra things to be appled for that the new state pension excludes eligibility for. So the total result may be higher if tbe base is old state pension. But the UK, which is currently ranked something like 29th country in the world for looking after its pensioners on one of the major indexes (was 28th last year, 29th this year), has never ceased to amaze me in how nasty the establishment has become.
Apparently there’s also something further
very sneaky that was rolled into the new state pension that was never announced (and should have been). Apparently the GMP part was tweaked so it goes up at a much lower rate than before. A finance professional commented in the financial press earlier this year when was this going to be announced as it was an important reduction in security for pensioners and the DWP had still not made the public aware.
So I reckon that a retired Brit, with S1, with a UKpension, with a property in France, with (perhaps) funds from a property sold back in UK and/or with savings… ought to be able to meet Financial requirements for an application for French Residency.
or am I over-enthusiastic… ??
Not as simple as that.
The French vias requirment for a single person is approx €16,000. A UK State pension is generally between €9,000 and €11,000.
However what seems to be happening is that for couples the visa officials are not requiring €16k x 2, ie €32,000. So if both members of the couple have pensions they seem generally to be accepted,
Edit, seems that for a couple €2,000/month is the accepted threshold. So two state pensions, plus house and a bite extra should get one there. ( For the WARP card applications the French were being very generous and accepting basic SMIC income as ok for a couple, but this has changed)
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I do not know if this applies to all visas or only the non renewable one.
It seems that this is an evolving situation to say the least.
I think even immediately post WA the French were being pretty lenient - and 1xSMIC would be sufficient - seems that is changing quite quickly now.
I have a long way to go before retirement so I anticipate the situation being clearer - I have a workplace pension as well as the house and a bit put by and, of course the state pension so I’m not anticipating having too much difficulty reaching the income threshold, even though I certainly won’t be a wealthy pensioner.
Obviously if we have to find 2xSMIC and the £ vs € rate proves Geof correct we might have to re-think 
Oh:
Bloomin’ close though - 2x full state pension is currently approx 1828€ per month.
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The other thing people need to bear in mind if their income is only just above the minimum is whether that will allow them to live comfortably here. Houses might be cheaper here, but nothing much else is.
And being able to afford to buy a bigger property is great - but it costs more to maintain and heat/cool.
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sadly, many folk fell/still fall into what I view as “the trap” … over-enthusiastic Property Buying … so easy to get carried away… 
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I think that was more true when a couple needed only to demonstrate 1xSMIC to get a visa - one might argue that 2000€ is much more realistic than that and the upwards revision was a necessary stap
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I think it is a fact that a couple does not require double the income of a single person to live to the same standard. But equally, a couple cannot live to the same standard as a single person on the same income.
I suppose France is considering inflation in the near future and it seems probably that while the SMIC will hopefully continue rising in line with inflation, the signs are that UK pensions will not, nor will rental income. If a fixed UK income will remain fixed while the cost of living increases, this may become unsustainable.
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and buying over large houses to accommodate visiting family who probably only come regularly for the first couple of years then their intentions fade away leaving mum and dad with a huge pile to heat and maintain.
My mum was just as bad… she kept on a 4 bed house even after all us kids had left home and got our own families - just in case we came to visit.
In her later years, she couldn’t even manage the stairs so slept downstairs with 4 large bedrooms and the bathroom upstairs totally unused for a considerable period of time.
A growing family would have made much better use of the property but she was stubborn - a small bungalow would have suited her well as she became less mobile but the lady was not for turning… not one of us could convince her otherwise.
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As I’ve said before we’re arguably in that boat having 150m2 of habitable space, even without counting the to-be-done-at-some-point garage conversion. Plus 2800m2 terrain.
We’ll see how it goes 
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As someone with an enormous house (plus a gîte) we bought it in the full knowledge that we would have to move again. But after years of living in small houses we wanted to be able to spread our wings for a bit. So for us 15-20 years of spacious living is worth it.
A trap to me would be to be in a house with 15- 20m2 rooms
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I downsized this year through necessity as I could see myself becoming trapped in a 450 year old house with no means to keep it in good condition as the years would pass. It was great when we were a family living in it, but eventually only me was left and it had become a millstone with all the garden to keep up that I often used to keep putting off until it had to be done. It was a nightmare to clear that property and dispose of over 40years worth of stuff that had come from all my years of marriage and previously from various family member’s homes whenthey died but at least now my children won’t have all that aggro and I love my new,clean,warm and modern bungalow and much much less garden and my family are only 10mins away instead of 1200kms/12 hour drive. I would say to anyone if they are getting overwhelmed by a large family home, make the move sooner than later so you can still enjoy it.
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Better not come and stay with me then @JaneJones 
We bought our house for the land, which is great, but the house, while capable of improvements, is never going to have large rooms. You could visit in the summer though - we live outside 
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@JaneJones
It’s quite clear that you did NOT fall “into the trap”… so tempting to Brits when they first buy in France…
sadly I do know many who have expressed regret at what they bought… admitting to being overwhelmed at what their money could buy… and not sufficiently thinking beyond …
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