"It’s interesting to see the downsizer gap shrink this year in line with wider house price trends recorded across the board. This is to be expected as the market shifts from a seller’s advantage to a buyer's one, where the froth from early 2022 has certainly dissipated into more normal operating conditions"
- Nick Leeming - Jackson-Stops
Downsizers could free up an estimated £209,215 worth of equity, according to latest research from national estate agency Jackson-Stops.
Its annual research on the ‘downsizer gap’ – the money left over when moving from a detached house to a semi-detached house in England and Wales – has increased by £5,467 since 2022, and £91,622 in a decade.
It is the fourth year in a row that the downsizer gap has increased year-on-year, starting with 2% growth from 2019 to 2020 and peaking in 2020 to 2021 at 14%, with the total growth over that period sitting at 30% and amounting to nearly £1million (£921,461).
According to its branch data, the number of downsizer enquiries is now in line with pre-pandemic levels, having increased by 16% last year alone. However, the data does depict a drop-off in downsizers registering in 2023, indicative of a slower transactional market as the year closes with higher mortgage rates and election uncertainty.
Its research also reveals the best regions to downsize in, highlighting areas where movers have the most cash freed up from their move. Excluding London, Elmbridge in Surrey has come out on top for the second year in a row, offering downsizers the largest sum of cash left over this year at £789,795.
Principal towns and villages in Elmbridge include Esher, Cobham, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Molesey.
Elmbridge also offers movers the largest proportional difference at 113%, in which detached houses cost more than double semi-detached. This percentage figure has climbed from last years (110%) as whilst average house price values cool across the board, the gap has widened in Elmbridge with a larger drop in semi-detached houses at 4%, versus 2% for detached.
Other top areas highlighted in the research that are ideally placed to give downsizers a large amount of equity leftover include Woking, Buckinghamshire, Tunbridge Wells, and Sevenoaks[2].
Looking at downsizing trends across the decade, moments where movers benefitted the most financially by downsizing were when house prices typically climbed, particularly in 2014 with a 10% proportional incline from downsizing, as well as in 2016 (9%), 2021 (14%) and in 2022 (10%)
Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, explains: “Downsizers today are of all ages as a consequence of higher rates of borrowing, where the aspiration to maintain lifestyles, school fees and sunny holidays, as well as wanting to be less wasteful with heating and upkeep, means smaller properties, typically of two and three bedrooms in highly prized locations, have never been so sought after.”
He continues: “It’s interesting to see the downsizer gap shrink this year in line with wider house price trends recorded across the board. This is to be expected as the market shifts from a seller’s advantage to a buyer's one, where the froth from early 2022 has certainly dissipated into more normal operating conditions.”
The many reasons why some movers have been downsizing, range from equity release to support family, to changing lifestyle needs and relocations.
Gaynor Cooper, Director from Jackson-Stops Sevenoaks, says: “Be sure of where you want to be and feel settled with that decision as if it were your last move. It might not be, but many homeowners who haven’t moved house in over a decade may find the process much more emotionally stressful than perhaps planned for, with extra memories to untangle with.
"Certainty helps, as well as keeping a list of reasons firmly in your mind as to what the move will now allow you to do, whether that’s cheaper bills, a family holiday, a short commute, and so on.”
Tim Firth, Director of Jackson-Stops Weybridge, agrees that planning well can be the secret to a less stressful move.
He concludes: “To downsize well in the current climate, you need to get everything ready as if the timeline is imminent, not two months away. Whilst it rarely is this short, I’ve found that many downsizers are offering themselves as cash buyers, meaning their offers are accepted on the grounds of a fast move, without lenders tightening the cogs or rate changes affecting decisions.
"This is one of the great advantages of downsizing, being able to be flexible, quick, and often therefore the preferred buyer.”
