Downsizing for retirement

Dustyevsky

We upsized on retirement, moving to a cheaper, but picturesque area. The advantage has been seeing more of our children, grandchildren and family, than might otherwise have been the case. 

In recent years, it's even been possible to house our youngest daughter and husband while they saved for a deposit, and without falling out!

Just an alternative view from someone who didn't feel particularly old on retirement. I reckon by 80 I will, so that's when I plan to downsize....if only the garden!

bouicca21

I do not understand why people downsize.  Marriage breakup meant that I was forced as it were to downsize from a 4 to a 3 bed with smaller rooms  in a slightly different area of London. I consider it just about liveable for a singleton, would love some extra space. 

Also, do not underestimate how difficult it can be to remake your social life when older.  

If OP is moving out of London to a cheaper area I’d use the difference in price to buy space rather than downsize. My main concern would be transport links - I never want to be dependent on having a car because there will come a time when I can’t or shouldn’t drive.

tooldle

We downsized from a 4 bed Edwardian property to a late 70’s 3 bed bungalow, 5 mins walk between the two properties. Bungalow is much much smaller. We were lucky to get it as bungalow’s are a rare beast in the area. The new property was in quite a state and was priced quite low as a result. 

I’m definitely more minded to review our possessions regularly now, and gift / donate / dispose of things no longer needed. In the old property we’d put stuff in one of the spare rooms, cupboard, attic etc and delay a decision.
keeping the new place clean is far easier.

youth_leader

I really dislike living in a bungalow after my big house, I particularly miss going upstairs and seeing the sunrise/sunset. As well as using stairs.  I went to Madeira at Christmas and the hotel restaurant was up a huge marble staircase, nearly killed me  

If you have the money, I would recommend finding a house where the stairs have room for a stairlift.  Unfortunately I was about £30K short for a house in this area.  

louby40

We downsized last year from a 4 bed 3 storey townhouse to a newer 3 bed semi. We had 2 bedrooms and a bathroom that weren't even being used and basically stored suitcases.

I had cancer in 2021 and although fully recovered now,  my love for my teaching job had gone so the move was spurred on by wanting a different  way of life. Moving and being mortgage free was the answer. There was some equity left over to sort out the garden, new kitchen and the rest has gone into an ISA .

We are close to a supermarket and a pub. We have some lovely walks around us and can catch a bus easily once we can no longer drive.

It has been a challenge adapting to a smaller house, maximising storage has been key and a MASSIVE declutter was in order. We are in the same area so still close to family and friends.

But at nearly 57 I've just  retired from teaching and am about to become a self employed, part time online trainer. 

Downsizing was definitely the answer for us. 

subjecttocontract

I don't understand the need to downsize either. Many of our friends & family have downsized and often ask when we will do the same. I've been retired over 20 years with no interest in downsizing. If I moved I'd probably buy a much larger place....after all, you can never have enough space. I think I would seriously struggle in a smaller property. We've had quite a few properties that we've let out, all much smaller than our main house and a Spanish holiday home  which was substantially smaller than our UK property. All ideal for a weeks break from time to time but I would never have been happy to live in such a small places on a permanent basis. I guess it's down to what suits you as an individual......we are all different, aren't we ?

lincroft1710

I have a 60 year old book of new (then) individually built houses. One of them was built for an elderly couple who were "downsizing" from a manor house. The Gross Internal Area of the new house was about 375 sq metres plus attics!

Albermarle

subjecttocontract said:

I don't understand the need to downsize either. Many of our friends & family have downsized and often ask when we will do the same. I've been retired over 20 years with no interest in downsizing. If I moved I'd probably buy a much larger place....after all, you can never have enough space. I think I would seriously struggle in a smaller property. We've had quite a few properties that we've let out, all much smaller than our main house and a Spanish holiday home  which was substantially smaller than our UK property. All ideal for a weeks break from time to time but I would never have been happy to live in such a small places on a permanent basis. I guess it's down to what suits you as an individual......we are all different, aren't we ?

I guess it probably depends on a few factors.
For example if you lived in a very big house ( say 6 bedrooms) and there was only one or two of you, then it would make sense to downsize a bit, even if only to a slightly less big house.
Also if your retirement consists of travelling many months a year, a flat is easier to manage than a house with a big garden.

The_Famous_Flame

youth_leader said:

Good luck.  I do recommend Facebook Marketplace, my son has just sold his late Dad's clubs and golf bags etc.  I do recommend photographing everything you 'declutter' - my daughter suddenly wanted a tiny ornament her late Dad had given her.  Very luckily I'd photographed all of the ornaments I'd taken to the charity shop and it wasn't there ... found it in her memory trunk.  Phew!

Very good idea! Thank you youth leader

vic_sf49

I'd pay off the flat, move to it, and live there for a year (if it's not too small), to see if living in that area is what you really want. 

You might be there 2 months, and something about the area drives you nuts (flipping tourists etc), and you decide to rethink where you want to live.

It also might challenge you on how much space you want or need, vs how much you think you can downsize by.