Downsizing Could Open Up the Housing Market

New research has found that millions of properties across the country are currently under-occupied. In many of these cases, the owners are older residents who would consider downsizing, but very few actually achieve this. If more people in this category were to move, it could open up the housing market and release more family properties that are desperately needed.

The data was analysed by the Centre for Economics and Business Research with Legal and General. It showed that amongst last-time buyers (LTB) around 5.3 million homes were under-occupied, and 3.3 million of these homeowners want to move to somewhere smaller. This doesn't always mean having to compromise on the features of a property, as it can be adapted to suit your needs by renovating the kitchen or adding in iron balcony railings to make more of the outside space.

The Problem of Spare Bedrooms

With good family properties in short supply, the LTBs are tying up valuable space. Within this market there are 7.7 million empty bedrooms. The amount of housing stock they are occupying totals £820 billion, and this will only continue to grow, with estimates suggesting it will rise to £1.2 trillion by 2020. Over the past five years, 32% of them have thought about downsizing, but only 7% of them have actually done so. Among the over 55s with two or more spare bedrooms, 63% do plan on moving at some point.

Why Should You Consider Downsizing?

Downsizing is not always an option for every older property owner, but in some cases it can provide benefits for the residents as well as the overall housing market. The research found that the majority of the over 55s who want to downsize feel this way because their current home doesn't meet their needs. This could be because it is too large or expensive to maintain or it's too far away from relatives. However, even with this in mind, many LTBs don't actually make the move until much later in life, when it is often too late and they are forced to do so for health or financial reasons. 50% of those surveyed would think about moving when they were over 70, and 25% want to leave it till they're at least 80.

With a current housing shortage, we need to address this area as a matter of urgency and look at the issues that are preventing LTBs from moving. If more of this market were to downsize, they could release some of the equity that is tied up in order to renovate their next property to meet their needs. This could include building on the outdoor and garden area by installing a balcony with iron balcony railings so that they can enjoy their retirement.

Targeting this area of the property market would help to ease some of the current pressures. However, it would also benefit those property owners who can sometimes feel stuck in properties that they can no longer manage, as they don't feel there is another option.