The self-storage experts analysed live property listings on Home.co.uk for the UK’s 100 largest towns and cities and found that within the Yorkshire region, the historical walled city of York is the best place to downsize, where buyers can save a staggering £128,251 by dropping just one bedroom.
Crowned the best place to live in the UK by the Sunday Times in 2018, York was also named one of the best places to live in the 2021 rankings, having been described as the “perfect mix of heritage and hi-tech". With house prices in the city a little over the UK average, buyers can save £5,198 more than the UK average for downsizing by one bedroom.
The largest city in West Yorkshire, Leeds, is second in terms of the savings you can make from scaling down the size of a property. With an average saving of £91,693 for losing one bedroom, that’s more than enough to buy a one-bedroom property in Huddersfield.
Third on the list is South Yorkshire’s Sheffield. Buyers can save a huge £90,420 by opting for a home with one less bedroom, whilst Wakefield and Scunthorpe complete the top five most profitable places to downsize in the region.
For those wanting to make the biggest saving, it’s best to avoid the South Yorkshire town of Doncaster, where homeowners will save the least from downsizing, with an average saving of just £38,224, more than three times less than York.
The Yorkshire towns and cities where homeowners will save the most and least from downsizing are:
For those wanting to downsize from a family three-bedroom home to something a little smaller, the highest saving is again York (£86,137 average saving), followed closely by Halifax where homeowners can save £78,247 by swapping a three-bedroom to a two-bedroom property.
The biggest saving generally comes from downsizing from a five to four-bedroom house, with York (£209,503), Sheffield (£153,567) and Leeds (£152,031) occupying the top three in that category as well.
Vlatka Lake, Marketing Manager at Space Station, said: “Downsizing is a popular option for homeowners who no longer need a three, four, or even five-bedroom property after their children grow up and fly the nest.
“It’s fascinating to see that savings in certain areas across Yorkshire from downsizing by just one bedroom is enough to buy a one-bedroom property in other locations across Yorkshire and the Humber.
“You’re almost always going to save money by downsizing and there are storage options available if you don’t have quite enough room for your possessions in your smaller home.”
