Have you/ are you planning to ‘downsize’

Pittcity - we wanted a house with a small garden in a village with amenities and that's what we found. Doesnt have an attic either so no room to store junk ;-).

Bazza, the house being visible from the road is no protection from break-ins and ladders are not always necessary..

Our last house was the outside of a pair of rather grand and tall Victoran semis. We were the corner house overlooking a busy crossroad, with traffic lights in the university area of town.

On a warm summer evening in broad daylight, someone shinned up a drainpipe at the front of the house. There was a small roll of brickwork sticking about 2 or 3 inches from the main wall. The burglar edged along that for about 10 feet, incuding going past one window to get to the one that was open a couple of inches. He opened the large sash window and climbed in.

He could be seen clearly by students walking up and down, cars stopped at the traffic lights, people going past the house on the top deck of buses.

When we called the police they simply would not believe that this was how he made his entry, but eventually having cjecked all the other locked doors and windows, plus the footprint, fthey were finally convinced.

As I said, being open to the road, does not stop brass-necked burglars prepared to take a risk, from getting in.

We successfully downsized a month ago from a 4 bed detached to a 3 bed semi. It's so liberating getting rid of stuff! So much less to clean and much lower bills. We only need 2 bedrooms for us and DS when he's on leave.
We moved to a quiet estate that is right in the heart of town and next to a park. We therefore have no need for a large garden and can concentrate on enjoying life rather than house maintenance.

Lbc1955 - yes it is swings and roundabouts. We opted for a nice kitchen, bathroom and conservatory over large garden and privacy.

I downsized about eight years ago. I've no garage now or conservatory and I do miss these a bit. I've also 'lost' a kitchen/diner and utility. Although it is ultimately for the best I'll always hanker after the larger kitchen.
I adored the garden but it was too big for me to look after single-handed. It's swings and roundabouts, isn't it?

Another downsize failure here. We moved quite a few years ago from a 4bd house to a 2b bungalow with larger garden. I never liked it despite an extension and loft conversion. The bungalow was tucked in a corner had garden on three sides. We had problems due to the number of very large trees overhanging the property some of which had TPOs. I've no interest in gardening, OH did at the beginning but that soon waned. It didnt help that most windows faced north so no sun all day. We sold last year during lockdown and moved into rented hoping to buy a property nearer DD. However that didn't happen and we moved back to relatives and started again. Anyhow after viewing numerous bungalows all with large gardens and small interiors we've had an offer accepted on a 4bd house with a v small south facing garden (no trees in sight). The garden has a tiny lawn front and back which is perfect for us to maintain. I think you have to go with what's right for you now and not in say 20 years hence.

The only thing we need to do is declutter and get a walk in shower, delayed due to Covid, once that’s done we will be ‘future proofed’.
The only problem is that I don’t want to live in Oxfordshire, I want to go back to where I came from, but I’m the only one that wants to move so here we are and probably will stay.

Did it 6 years ago. Primarily to help my DD.

I wanted somewhere that needed some work - a project to keep me occupied.
But would also be somewhere I could secure easily when I went away.
Yes, I had to get rid of a lot of 'stuff' - a fully loaded car-ful of books for a start ?
So now I live by the sea which I find amazing. Across the road is a garden looked after by local residents which compensates somewhat for the one I left behind - probably the biggest wrench.
When I have time, I plan to join them.

It's nice not cleaning bathrooms - 1 is so much quicker.
The bills have dropped an incredible amount.
I've got some lovely neighbours, took on a small job where I've made some great new friends.
Of course it's easy to help DD when needed rather than bombing 100+ miles up & down the country.

The negatives for me, we're trying to get reliable builders in an area I didn't know.
Less space for treasures I just can't get rid of. (thinking of putting them in storage)
The renovations are still on going (other family commitments slowed the progress) - new sash window & front door this year hopefully.

The other revelation was how the odd person compares the size ones home to ones status & then equated with intelligence or success. After the initial surprise it doesn't bother me now that I'm settled.

We live in a large 4 bedroomed house, over 500 years old and, surprisingly warm and draft free. We are currently building an extension that will give us a decent sized kitchen/breakfast area with enough space for informal dining when the family visit, and a utility room, things we have not had before and have felt the lack of.

Our DS and family usually spend a week with us every school holiday, when DD usually visits as well, so every bedroom gets throughly used. One bedroom serves as a spare for us when we are not sleeping well and sleep separately. The other two provide space for sewing, crafts and Tai Chi. In other words we may have a large house but we use all the space. The downside is the big garden. No problems managing it at the moment, but we are in our late 70s.......

One thing cheers me up. Our neighbour, 2 doors down down-sized recently from a similar sized Listed house, but with a garden of over an acre. They have bought an almost identically sized Listed house, but the garden is about 50ft square.

When we need to, we will do the same thing.

We bought a house on Anglesey for weekends holidays and retirement. Now we have GC we wouldn’t want to move there it’s not practical so it’s being sold. We live in a four bedroom detached house which too big but we can’t be bothered with the hassle of moving. If I had my way I would get rid of lots of unnecessary furniture we have and go minimalist. To save our DS and DD the trouble later on but my DH will not get rid of anything.

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We moved here 7 years ago thinking it would be our forever home. However, I am now alone and have no need for 4 bedrooms and 3 floors, plus a good sized garden which was strictly DH's domain. Dreading having to tackle that!
It'll take time, but I do plan an eventual move to somewhere smaller, and suitable for me when my dotage comes.

We downsized from a large 3 bed house to a 3 bed garden flat. It has enabled us to retire early, and we now have time for our family and friends and...no clutter!
We got rid of so much useless stuff and I am busy selling on Ebay and made lots of spare cash.
I don't miss our old house at all, memories are in your head not the walls of a building, onwards and upwards!

No. We have 4 bedrooms but it’s not a very big house so we’re certainly not rattling around in it. The location is very convenient for everything, we have very good public transport and the garden is small.
COVID times apart, we do often use the extra bedrooms for family and friends.

If I were left on my own I suppose I would think of downsizing, but even though we’re not hoarders and the place isn’t cluttered with stuff, the thought of getting rid of so much makes me exhausted just to think of it.

I’d probably downsize to a dd’s area, which is still expensive but a bit less so than here.

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TBH @Sparklefizz, I wouldn’t trust fly screens to be intruder proof, though they might be a deterrent. We had them for many years when living in the Middle East and it was all too easy to take them out - as I needed to now and then to wash them, since they’d get horribly dusty. And I’m sure a sharp knife would soon have made short work of them - though perhaps any in the U.K. would be more robust.

Hetty58

When I find a lovely smaller house - with an even bigger garden (as rare as hens' teeth) I'll consider moving.

I'm sure my family would like me to move now, before I'm 'too old' (whatever that is) but it's not much trouble to have extra space and unused rooms. I'd hate to feel cooped up, though, and planning to live like a ninety year old, when I'm 67, seems totally bonkers.

When people talk about "downsizing" they often just mean more practical. I don't think my square footage is any different to my last home but I have the use of all of it rather than stairs which virtually meant I only had use of half of it most of the time.

I think I was very lucky as my health now makes me feel about 10 years younger than I am whereas at one point it made me feel about 90. I used the insight to ensure I could enjoy whatever comes along.

To each his own way of coping but I don't see that my way of enjoying my life make me any more "bonkers" than the next person. Indeed, in some cases it may make me feel considerably less, but then this is one thing on which we all can certainly all have our own opinion.

We moved from a seven bedroom Victorian house on a busy main road to a three bedroom bungalow in a cul de sac overlooking fields of cows etc.We loved it but now this has been swallowed up into a housing estate You can't buy a view

Well done Spice and good luck in your new house.
After reading this thread and being puzzled, I visited (outdoors) my df who was widowed a few years ago.
She was facing disability so found a plot in the same village, and had a kit-house built. It took 6 months, cost 100k (plus the plot) and is perfect for her needs. She proudly told me the insulation was so good she still has snow on her roof while the neighbouring houses were bare.
However when I got home, another df was chopping wood for my fire and said I should never move from my house!

I'm a downsize failure. We sold our home of 40 years 15 months ago. The house was 3 bedroom but on 2 acres of land which was becoming a bit of an issue. We spent quite a bit of money and 3 years getting approval for a development to build townhouses on the property and then sold. The idea was to buy a house around the same size but on a smaller block of land but not on the standard suburban size of about 650sq.m Due to health and mobility issues our new home had to be single story. In my part of Australia, largely due to the smaller block sizes that have become the norm single story homes are in the minority.

Long story short, in 2 weeks we will move into our new home with a swimming pool (not on our lists of wants) which is on 1/3 acre but much the house is larger than the old house.

We had to compromise but were not prepared to compromise not having stairs, spacious rooms and room outside for husband's hobbies which require a good size shed. In the end we realized the compromise was a pool and a bigger house.

We don't need what we have bought but we both want it and after spending most of our married life making do we figure this is our reward. I call it our 5 year indulgence.

We were not ready to make this change much earlier but in hindsight due to the quick onset of health issues it would have much easier to do it a few years ago.

I remember chatting to a widow in a shop about all the stuff which had accumulated in the house over the years and leaving all that for my AC to sort, likening it to the V & A or one of the pyramids, she said:-
“Is your house worth much?”
“Er yes”
“Well let them get on with it”?

When I find a lovely smaller house - with an even bigger garden (as rare as hens' teeth) I'll consider moving.

I'm sure my family would like me to move now, before I'm 'too old' (whatever that is) but it's not much trouble to have extra space and unused rooms. I'd hate to feel cooped up, though, and planning to live like a ninety year old, when I'm 67, seems totally bonkers.

Last year we moved from a three storey house in town to a brand new, two storey, four bedroom, detached house in a village location. We are early 60’s and feel we have at least 10 years to enjoy our new home and lovely neighbours although it’s bigger than what we sold. We use a bedroom as a study. one as a guest room and another as a hobby/bedroom so all rooms are used. When the time comes both or one of us will move to a property that suits us at that time. We do not keep anything that is not used and I am currently selling my bear collection as it’s worth a fair bit and relatives after we’ve gone will have less to do.

I downsized two years ago when I was 62, from a large four bedroom Semi with a large garden, after twenty five years, empty nest and husband passed away.
I rented a bungalow for six months, so that I could have a good look round.
I bought a modern 2/3 bedroom house, smaller garden, and so well insulated. This enabled me to give my children a chunk of money when they needed it most.
Best decision I ever made. Good luck.

I can't imagine moving into anywhere smaller at the moment, to be honest. We don't live in a large house, by any stretch of the imagination, but it has enough space to enable DH and I to follow our own interests as well as be together. My only concern would be if the stairs became difficult to manage, but they are reasonably shallow and are in 3 sections rather than one steep stair case, so are fine at the moment. I'm not sure if a stairlift could be fitted to this style of staircase, but it would be something to be investigated if the need arose. Moving house entails a lot of upheaval, stress and expense, so I'm really hoping we never have to move. We are lucky to have friendly neighbours, the area is nice and there is a regular bus service on the doorstep and a rail service within easy reach to take us further afield (once this Covid is done) and shops and facilities are within walking distance or a short drive/bus journey away. Our garden is small but manageable and a young gardener comes to lower the hedge and prune magnolia for us, as they are the only things that are more difficult the older we get - the will is there, the energy isn't! (Also, he takes all the cuttings away which is a huge plus). ?
So, all in all, I'd be very sad to have to leave, and hope the day never comes.