April 16, 2025
Downsizing Your Home: When Is The Best Time?
Downsizing your home may seem a bit odd after years of trying to get on the property ladder and improve your space for you and your family. However, it can definitely be a great decision for anyone either looking to save money, has children move out, or just enjoys the money that’s passed over from your other property sale.
Yet, a lot of people think of doing it but never really get around to doing it. Whether it be indecision or lack of information on how to do it, we’re going to try and break down everything you need to know about downsizing your house so you can confidently say whether it’s for you or not. Let’s get into it so you can make your mind up!
What is Downsizing?
Downsizing is simply the process of moving from your current home into a smaller, more affordable house. People often consider downsizing when they get older, have no children in the home, and now there’s loads of space/money to be saved.
Downsizing can help you get closer to your family or even completely start afresh somewhere random with a new lease of life.
What and where you downsize to is completely up to you, but the main objective is to simply save money, save yourself doing more maintenance, etc., so you can experience life elsewhere to the fullest without worrying about a massive mortgage payment.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Downsizing Your Home?
Downsizing may even seem appealing to some of you younger folk who may have a property that is simply too big for you or costs a lot more than you thought it would. However, before you make this huge decision in your life, it’s important to note there are pros and cons to downsizing your home, which we’re going to run through now:
| Pros of Downsizing | Cons of Downsizing |
|---|---|
| It can release equity if you’ve been paying off your current home for a long time – you can use the leftover cash to enjoy your life | You will have less space in your home to store or organise all your belongings |
| A smaller house means cheaper bills all around | If you’ve lived in the property you’re in now for a while, it may feel hard, as you’re emotionally connected to all the memories it’s given you |
| You will have less to clean around the property with it being smaller: less maintenance | There are a lot of moving costs you’ll have to pay again that you’ve once paid before |
| It can help you move to a location you’ve always wanted to move to (better quality of life) | Smaller properties may be harder to find, and opportunities to do this may be limited, so that has to be taken into consideration |
| You could potentially move closer to your family if you’re not already | You will have less space for guests who come to your home |
The main point here you want to focus on is weighing up both the pros and cons and seeing if they apply to you, because these are mostly generalised. If you don’t mind the space being smaller for guests, etc., then you can make that decision for yourself.
The Costs You’ll Pay for Downsizing Your Property
In the cons section, we talked about the extra costs that can accrue from downsizing your property. Yes, downsizing can save you money long-term for sure, but there will be some short-term costs you’ll have to pay, such as:
- Solicitor fees (£500-£2000 on average)
- Estate agent fees (between 1-3% of final sale price on average)
- Stamp duty tax (As of April 2025: 0% on properties up to £125,000, 2% for £125,001 to £250,000, 5% for £250,001 to £925,000, 10% for £925,001 to £1.5 million, and 12% for £1.5 million+)
- Mortgage lender fees (£1,078 is the average in the UK)
- A house deposit (varies depending on the size of the property and how much you’re willing to put down)
- Removal/moving costs (could vary from £200-£3000+ depending on the size of the property and how far it is to travel to the new location).
- Survey fees (Between £300-£1500 on average)
- Early redemption charges (1-5% on the outstanding balance of your previous mortgage to exit early)
Disclaimer: These prices could change with time so it’s important to keep up to date with the latest information on these costs!
There is quite a heavy list of costs you’ll have to pay when you downsize to a smaller property, but just remember, in some cases, when downsizing, you can use the equity from your larger home to offset a lot of these costs of moving to a smaller property. It all depends on your situation, how much your home sale is, what the price of your new property is, and many more.
How Do You Know It’s the Right Time to Downsize?
Research by Saga showed that one in five people over the age of 50 in the UK have downsized their property (almost four million people), meaning that a lot of people reading this may think it’s the right or wrong time to do this.
To know whether it’s the right time to downsize or not, do not look at what other people are doing; it’s probably best to ask yourself these questions, and then it may become clear what’s best for you:
- Do you get frustrated at the amount of cleaning you have to do in your big home?
- Would you rather save money and experience life a bit more?
- Do you mind letting go of your lifelong property?
- Are you okay with the moving costs associated with this?
- Are you okay with having less space around the home?
- Do you want to start afresh and move somewhere else?
- Do you want to move closer to your family?
These are just a few of the examples you really need to internalise to see if it’s the right option for you, not anyone else.
What Property Can You Downsize to?
There are so many different property types you can downsize to if you believe this is the right option for you, and finding and buying the right home for you should be an easier process if you know exactly what you want. Let’s take a look at what you can downsize into:
- A smaller house than the one you have now
- A bungalow
- A flat or apartment
- Shared ownership (lets you buy part of a home (usually between 25% and 75%) through a housing association)
- Using the equity to rent a property you can afford instead
- Going through a Developer’s Downsizing Scheme (they help you sell your current home so you can buy a new build from them)
Before making a decision on which one you want to buy, it’s always important to consult an expert on buying properties, as you may not know the rules, implications, and pros and cons of each, so we’d always recommend that.
How to Downsize: The Must-Have Checklist
If you’ve now decided, after all the information we’ve given yo,u that downsizing your house is for you and you want to know exactly how to downsize, here are some must-haves on your checklist before doing so:
- Start decluttering your home now (it can take a lot longer than maybe first anticipated)
- Start looking at where you want to live (narrows down the location)
- Decide on the type of property you want (narrows down your buying options)
- Prepare your home for selling, especially if you want to move as fast as possible, as the home selling timeline can vary depending on how ready you are
- Are you wanting to pay off your mortgage before selling your property?
- Start looking at the property market for the types of property you want
- Make sure to have all your paperwork ready for selling and buying
Downsizing Your Home FAQs
In terms of the best age to downsize, there’s no perfect age to consider it, but if we’re going based on average, it typically starts to become an option when you’re 50 and above. If you’re around that age and thinking about it, read the blog above, as it gives you everything you need to know!
You won’t have to pay capital gains tax in most cases, but if you used it to rent out or used it for business and the land it’s on is less than 5,000 square metres, it may be something you have to pay. However, if you’ve owned and lived in it the entire time, then you should be exempt from capital gains tax.
In most cases, yes, a smaller house will be less expensive due to there being less of it to maintain, power, fix, etc., along with the bills and upkeep costing less. However, this is not always the case, because you may want to move to a more lucrative area where even smaller properties are more expensive than the one you lived in – in the previous area.
No, 70 is not too old to move house, and with the right planning, it could be extremely beneficial. Whatever reason you’re doing it for, whether it be family, to live life more, etc., it is possible if you get in touch with the right people, so don’t be afraid to speak to a professional if this is something you’re thinking about.
Liam is the founder of Liam Gretton – Wirral Estate Agent and has a vast experience in both buying and selling homes on the Wirral. His expertise has led him to become one of the Wirral’s leading estate agents.
