The Advantages & Disadvantages Of Downsizing Your Home

Perhaps you now have an empty nest and no longer need the space afforded by your family home. It could be that you’re longing to simplify your life and are fed up with a home that’s full of clutter, or it could be that rising living costs have given you pause to consider drastic ways to cut costs.

Whatever your reasons, downsizing is no longer something that’s only considered by empty nesters. With people of all ages and circumstances wanting to simplify their lives and cut their living expenses, downsizing has become a more attractive option for far more people. Read on for some of the pros and cons of downsizing.

The advantages of downsizing your home

Cutting the cost of living

With so many of us impacted by the increase in the cost of living, from groceries to energy bills more of us are driven to look for ways to save money. Rent or mortgage repayments often represent our largest regular outgoing.

A smaller home should cost you less each month and together with a good EPC rating, it will also be much cheaper to heat.

All things considered then, a smaller home could provide the ideal way to cut your monthly outgoings, giving you a bit more financial freedom.

Simplified upkeep

The average family home can take an awful lot of time, effort and resources to keep looking great and in a good state of repair. A smaller property means less bed linen to change, fewer rooms to vacuum, less bathrooms to scrub and so on.

A home that requires less effort to upkeep means it could free up precious time for you to use as you wish, which must surely be a tempting prospect to most!

Debt-free living

If you’re downsizing you might find that after remortgaging, your remaining mortgage term might be much shorter, allowing you to pay off your mortgage sooner. Not only could this save you thousands of pounds in interest, but you could find yourself the outright owner of the property more quickly, providing the promise of being a debt-free home owner.

Read more about the pros and cons of remortgaging here.

Property that meets your needs

If you’re downsizing, it provides a great opportunity to choose a property that’s right for your needs. For example you might want to find a home with easier access, a flat rather than sloping or terraced garden or driveway, fewer stairs to climb, a low maintenance outdoor space or an accessible bathroom.

The disadvantages of downsizing your home

Lack of space

Even after decluttering and getting rid of some of your belongings, you could find it hard to adjust to a smaller living space. On a practical front, you might find that your smaller home makes it more difficult to have friends and family over, making entertainment trickier.

Less flexibility

A smaller home means you’ll have a bit less flexibility in terms of things like furniture layouts and you might even need some rooms to perform double duty, for example, your guest room might also have to be your home office.

If your circumstances change, for example, due to a growing family, a smaller home will be less able to accommodate such changes.

Getting ready to downsize your home?

If you’ve decided that downsizing is for you, there are a few things you can start doing now to prepare for your move.

Declutter

Start the process of decluttering now. Throw away things that aren’t useful or beautiful – though of course if they are sentimental, then by all means keep them. Now is a great time though to assess what you really need and want to take with you into your new home.

Assess furniture requirements

The room dimensions in your smaller new home may not be large enough to accommodate some of your existing pieces of furniture. Use the floorplan of your new property to work out the space that will be available for your furniture in the new property and plan accordingly.

Get your home ready to sell

Make a start to ensure that your existing property is in a good state or repair to give you the best chance of making a quick sale to facilitate your move to a smaller property.

Arrange storage

Downsizing might mean that you lose storage space by the way of a garage, attic or basement. Even after decluttering, no longer having a spare room or space for lots of furniture could mean you need to rent a storage space.

Storage options differ depending on where you live, some may have waiting lists or may only have certain size spaces available, so it’s best to look into this and get storage space arranged as soon as you can.