Is it me or am I getting mixed messages
Divorce, bereavement, financial pressure: our new research reveals the most common reasons why people choose to downsize their homes. See the full results of the survey below.
Which of these statements about downsizing applies best to you personally? | |
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Total | |
I have already downsized | 32% |
I am planning to downsize in the next 5-10 years | 31% |
I haven’t thought about downsizing | 15% |
I’ve got no intention of downsizing | 14% |
Other | 9% |
How many bedrooms that you would define as ‘spare’ do you have in your current home? | |
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Total | |
0 | 12% |
1 | 32% |
2 | 36% |
3 | 16% |
4 or more | 4% |
If you have downsized, did you do so under pressure? | |
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Total | |
I downsized under pressure | 21% |
I downsized, but not under pressure | 79% |
If you have downsized in the last 10 years, how much capital - if any - did you release? | |
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Total | |
Negative amounts - downsizing left me out of pocket | 17% |
Less than £10,000 | 22% |
£10,000-£50,0000 | 24% |
£50,001-£100,000 | 13% |
£100,001 - £250,000 | 15% |
More than £250,000 | 9% |
If you did downsize under pressure, what were the reasons? Please tick all that apply: | |
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Total | |
I/we needed to release money to pay for day-to-day living costs | 16% |
I/we needed to release money to pay for care costs (ours or other people’s) | 2% |
I/we needed to release money for other reasons to do with our own needs (e.g pay off our own debts or mortgage) | 23% |
I/we needed to release money to help out our children | 10% |
I/we needed to release money to help out our grandchildren | 4% |
I/we felt guilty about leaving our housing wealth untapped | 1% |
I/we came under direct pressure from family members to release housing wealth | 1% |
I/we could no longer cope with the upkeep of a larger home | 23% |
I/we needed to move to a new location | 16% |
Features of our home (such as stairs, size of corridors or rooms, locations of bathrooms and bedrooms) made it unsuitable | 14% |
Divorce, bereavement or other change in circumstances made it necessary to move | 40% |
Other | 16% |
If you have downsized in the last 10 years, are you using money from the sale of your home for any of the following? Please tick all that apply: | |
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Total | |
Holidays/travel | 24% |
Healthcare or care costs for you or your partner | 3% |
Healthcare or care costs for wider family members, friends or others | 1% |
Refurbishment of your home | 38% |
Adaptations to your home to cope with reduced mobility or similar | 3% |
New car | 3% |
Savings | 36% |
Investments in stocks and shares | 10% |
Day-to-day living costs | 21% |
Helping out children/grandchildren with deposits for mortgages, help with mortgage payments or help with rental costs | 23% |
Helping out children/grandchildren with studying costs or student loan repayments | 4% |
Helping out children/grandchildren with day-to-day living costs | 11% |
Helping out children/grandchildren to pay off debts | 5% |
Net: helping out children/grandchildren | 36% |
Charitable giving | 2% |
Other | 15% |
If you have downsized already, please tell us whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: My/our biggest reason for downsizing was to help our children and grandchildren | |
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Total | |
Net: agree | 21% |
Net: disagree | 64% |
Strongly agree | 7% |
Somewhat agree | 13% |
Neither agree nor disagree | 15% |
Somewhat disagree | 17% |
Strongly disagree | 47% |
Please tell us how far you agree or disagree with the following statements: | |
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Total | |
Older couples or single people living in large houses should downsize in order to free up family-sized houses for younger families | |
Net: agree | 31% |
Net: disagree | 42% |
Strongly agree | 5% |
Somewhat agree | 26% |
Neither agree nor disagree | 27% |
Somewhat disagree | 21% |
Strongly disagree | 21% |
Governments should incentivise older people to move from larger properties in order to mobilise the housing market | |
Net: agree | 54% |
Net: disagree | 26% |
Strongly agree | 13% |
Somewhat agree | 41% |
Neither agree nor disagree | 21% |
Somewhat disagree | 13% |
Strongly disagree | 13% |
Blaming older people for the housing shortage is just a way to avoid addressing difficult questions around housing and public resources | |
Net: agree | 80% |
Net: disagree | 11% |
Strongly agree | 51% |
Somewhat agree | 28% |
Neither agree nor disagree | 9% |
Somewhat disagree | 5% |
Strongly disagree | 5% |
I feel I’ve been labelled by some younger people as a ‘house-blocker’ | |
Net: agree | 14% |
Net: disagree | 55% |
Strongly agree | 5% |
Somewhat agree | 9% |
Neither agree nor disagree | 31% |
Somewhat disagree | 19% |
Strongly disagree | 36% |
Greater numbers of older divorcees (‘silver splitters’) mean more homes are needed than ever before | |
Net: agree | 51% |
Net: disagree | 10% |
Strongly agree | 11% |
Somewhat agree | 39% |
Neither agree nor disagree | 39% |
Somewhat disagree | 7% |
Strongly disagree | 3% |
Grandparents need larger properties and extra space because they are so often relied upon for childcare | |
Net: agree | 49% |
Net: disagree | 18% |
Strongly agree | 11% |
Somewhat agree | 38% |
Neither agree nor disagree | 33% |
Somewhat disagree | 13% |
Strongly disagree | 5% |
Take a look at the summary of the results here.
Survey of 1014 Gransnet users between February and May 2018. The data is not weighted and is based on all answering each question.
Images: Shutterstock